History

• 
  Cronaca

• Big dinosaur footprint find in China

  David

  6 Feb 2010 | 5:39 pm

  Scientists in China say they have discovered more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints, all facing the same way. The footprints - thought to belong to at least six dinosaur types - were found in eastern

• Crash Blossoms

  David

  6 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am

  In their quest for concision, writers of newspaper headlines are, like Robert Browning, inveterate sweepers away of little words, and the dust they kick up can lead to some amusing ambiguities. Legendary headlines from

• Copyright madness infects Australia

  David

  4 Feb 2010 | 6:13 am

  The CNN writeup is more balanced, but the BBC's better highlights the outrageousness of the underlying issues: The Australian band Men at Work are facing a big legal bill after a court ruled it had

• Record price for Giacometti

  David

  4 Feb 2010 | 5:53 am

  A life-size bronze sculpture of a man by Alberto Giacometti has been sold at auction in London for the world record price of £65,001,250. It took just eight minutes for bidders to reach the

• Action/reaction

  David

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:01 am

  Inspired by Hollywood cowboy films, researchers have delved into the science of gun fights. Scientists discovered that people move faster when reacting to something than when they perform "planned actions". This is not at

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  Mirabilis.ca

• Founders of British obstetrics were callous murderers

  Christine

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:11 pm

  From the Guardian: Founders of British obstetrics ‘were callous murderers’. They are giants of medicine, pioneers of the care that women receive during childbirth and were the founding fathers of obstetrics. The names of William Hunter and William Smellie still inspire respect among today’s doctors, more than 250 years since they made their contributions to healthcare. Such were the duo’s reputations as outstanding physicians that the clienteles of their private practices included the rich and famous of mid-18th-century London. But were they also serial killers? New…

• Social media consultants

  Christine

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:04 pm

  I’ll tell you what depresses me about blogging (and the internet) these days. It’s the group of people who call themselves social media consultants. They present themselves as technical mavens, able to make a product famous and popular on the internet. They brand themselves nicely, pass around their cutting edge business cards, and say that they are experienced professionals who have access to influential outlets on the web. One such company says that its activities …build and nurture relationships with online influencers—frequently bloggers, editors, forum moderators and…

• Vatican reveals Secret Archives

  Christine

  1 Jan 2010 | 11:04 am

  From the Telegraph: Vatican reveals Secret Archives. A 13th-century letter from Genghis Khan’s grandson demanding homage from the pope is among a collection of documents from the Vatican’s Secret Archives that has been published for the first time. The Holy See’s archives contain scrolls, parchments and leather-bound volumes with correspondence dating back more than 1,000 years. High-quality reproductions of 105 documents, 19 of which have never been seen before in public, have now been published in a book. The Vatican Secret Archives features a papal letter to Hitler, an entreaty to…

• Technology to amaze you

  Christine

  29 Dec 2009 | 9:45 am

  This makes me feel like a Luddite. Here I am running around with a plain old digital camera (yeah, yeah, I know Luddites don’t use digital cameras… but still!) and this guy’s taking photos by framing what he wants with his fingers. I might as well go join the old-order Amish. Related Sixth Sense – PravavMinstry.com

• Ancient seed sprouts plant from the past

  Christine

  18 Dec 2009 | 5:10 pm

  From Hurriyet Daily NewsAncient seed sprouts plant from the past. A 4,000-year-old lentil seed found during an archeological excavation has germinated, exciting scientists as the event might lead to invaluable data for comparisons between the organic and genetically engineered plants of today. It would be the first seed from very old times whose genes were never modified, say the scientists. [continue]

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  Dreadnought Cruisers

• Today was the annivesary of the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915

  24 Jan 2010 | 4:07 pm

  I noticed two good photographs from the Battle of Dogger Bank (24 January 1915). I hope that these will work for us: the Seydlitz on fire and low in the water (from www.cityofart.net/bship/gun_ops.html) the Derfflinger, Seydlitz, and Von der Tann on the way to the battle (from www.sms-navy.com)

• Cruising formations for Dutch warships?

  20 Sep 2009 | 5:15 am

  One question that I have is if the Dutch sailed in some cruising formation with their fleet when not engaged in actual fighting. I have speculated that the ships in the same squadron sailed as a clump and that the fleet consisted of clumps, grouped by squadron. Is there a more definitive answer?

• Another run at the GB/CB/1905 fast battlecruiser design

  16 Aug 2009 | 5:44 pm

  I have tended to be obsessed with Cliff's design for a fast British battlecruiser, what we called the GB/CB/1905 design. I just got a good result by using light weight machinery. I am mystified why the protection is so good, considering the armour basis of 4in: GB/CB/1905, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid down 1905 (Engine 1910) Displacement: 23,677 t light; 24,490 t standard; 27,903 t normal; 30,632 t full load Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep) (778.00 ft / 770.00 ft) x 80.00 ft x (27.50 / 29.67 ft) (237.13 m / 234.70 m) x 24.38 m x (8.38 / 9.04 m)…

• Sadly, Alt_Naval seems to be gone

  15 Aug 2009 | 5:14 pm

  One of my inspiration for making imaginary ship photographs, Alt_Naval, seems to be gone. I tried to go there and found that the page was not there. I did a Google search and could not find a new URL for the site. It is gone. Thankfully, the "Wolf's Den" still exists. That was the first site that I had found with fake ship photographs. "Wolf's Den" has a new URL, but still lives on! I still like the classic Queen Victoria class pictures.

• A super American battlecruiser: the US/CB/1943

  17 Jul 2009 | 6:05 pm

  I have been toying with very large battleship and battlecruiser designs since I was young. This is a fast battlecruiser armed with 12-21in/55 guns. I don't like the deep draft, but I don't see an alternative. US-CB-1943, United States Battlecruiser laid down 1943 Displacement: 192,480 t light; 201,981 t standard; 217,137 t normal; 229,261 t full load Dimensions: Length (overall / waterline) x beam x draught (normal/deep) (1,366.74 ft / 1,350.00 ft) x 188.00 ft x (38.00 / 39.85 ft) (416.58 m / 411.48 m) x 57.30 m x (11.58 / 12.15 m) Armament: 12 - 21.00" / 533 mm 55.0 cal guns - 5,000.00lbs /…

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  Pepys' Diary

• Friday 8 February 1666/67

  Samuel Pepys

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  This morning my brother John come up to my bedside, and took his leave of us, going this day to Brampton. My wife loves him mightily as one that is pretty harmless, and I do begin to fancy him from yesterday's accident, it troubling me to think I should be left without a brother or sister, which is the first time that ever I had thoughts of that kind in my life. He gone, I up, and to the office, where we sat upon the Victuallers' accounts all the morning. At noon Lord Bruncker, Sir W. Batten, [Sir] W. Pen, and myself to the Swan in Leadenhall Street to dinner, where an exceedingly good dinner…

• Thursday 7 February 1666/67

  Samuel Pepys

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  Lay long with pleasure with my wife, and then up and to the office, where all the morning, and then home to dinner, and before dinner I went into my green dining room, and there talking with my brother upon matters relating to his journey to Brampton to-morrow, and giving him good counsel about spending the time when he shall stay in the country with my father, I looking another way heard him fall down, and turned my head, and he was fallen down all along upon the ground dead, which did put me into a great fright; and, to see my brotherly love! I did presently lift him up from the ground, he…

• Wednesday 6 February 1666/67

  Samuel Pepys

  6 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  Up, lying a little long in bed, and by water to White Hall, and there find the Duke of York gone out, he being in haste to go to the Parliament, and so all my Brethren were gone to the office too. So I to Sir Ph. Warwicke's about my Tangier business, and then to Westminster Hall, and walked up and down, and hear that the Prince do still rest well by day and night, and out of pain; so as great hopes are conceived of him: though I did meet Dr. Clerke and Mr. Pierce, and they do say they believe he will not recover it, they supposing that his whole head within is eaten by this corruption, which…

• Tuesday 5 February 1666/67

  Samuel Pepys

  5 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  Up, and to the office, where all the morning doing business, and then home to dinner. Heard this morning that the Prince is much better, and hath good rest. All the talk is that my Lord Sandwich hath perfected the peace with Spayne, which is very good, if true. Sir H. Cholmly was with me this morning, and told me of my Lord Bellasses's base dealings with him by getting him to give him great gratuities to near 2000l. for his friendship in the business of the Mole, and hath been lately underhand endeavouring to bring another man into his place as Governor, so as to receive his money of Sir H.

• Monday 4 February 1666/67

  Samuel Pepys

  4 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pm

  I up, with my head troubled to think of the issue of this morning, so made ready and to the office, where Mr. Gawden comes, and he and I discoursed the business well, and thinks I shall get off well enough; but I do by Sir W. Coventry's silence conclude that he is not satisfied in my management of my place and the charge it puts the King to, which I confess I am not in present condition through my late laziness to give any good answer to. But here do D. Gawden give me a good cordiall this morning, by telling me that he do give me five of the eight hundred pounds on his account remaining in my…

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  History in the News

• Military to move out of Vancouver Barracks, leaving buildings in National Park Service's care

  9 Feb 2010 | 6:35 am

  The USS Massachusetts, a troop transport steamer, chugged up the Columbia River on May 13, 1849.

• Letters: Conservatives interested in 'one-world' government

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:27 pm

  Should Sen.-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts be congratulated for his Jan. 19 political win? On Jan.

• On Feb. 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, was born

  8 Feb 2010 | 2:25 pm

  Today is Saturday, Feb. 6, the 37th day of 2010. There are 328 days left in the year.

• Soldiers exist for you

  8 Feb 2010 | 10:02 am

  We hear a lot these days about our soldiers in Afghanistan - especially those who come home in coffins.

• Editorial: It's time U.S. armed forces allow gays to serve openly

  8 Feb 2010 | 1:56 am

  IT IS, AS Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week, "the right thing to do." Seventeen years after Congress and President Bill Clinton adopted the "don't ask, don't tell" policy for gays in the military, the time has come to allow gay men and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. armed forces.

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  Breaking News

• Iran cuts ties with British Museum over ancient treasure

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:24 pm

  Source: AFP (2-7-10)Iran cut ties with the British Museum on Sunday in protest at repeated delays in the loan to Tehran of an ancient Persian treasure, the Cyrus Cylinder, a senior official said. In London a British Museum statement expressed "great surprise." Hassan Mohseni of the cultural heritage and tourism organisation said relations were annulled after the London museum failed to transfer the artefact to Tehran.

• Salvaging a Famous Rust Bucket

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:23 pm

  Source: New York Times (2-4-10)WHAT is it about New Jersey and buried bodies? While it’s nothing new for mobster corpses to turn up in the Meadowlands, a far more curious set of remains has surfaced here, an hour west of New York City: a car buried in Oklahoma in 1957, dug up there in 2007 and then shipped to — where else? — New Jersey for cosmetic restoration. The car, a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere, was buried in Tulsa as a vehicular time capsule to commemorate Oklahoma’s 50th birthday. The car was put into the earth with much fanfare. The city fathers, in news reports at…

• Darfur rebel Abu Garda will not face ICC charges

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:12 pm

  Source: BBC (2-8-10)The first Darfur war crimes suspect to face international judges has had the charges against him dropped. Rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, who gave himself up last year, had been accused of planning the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers in 2007. But International Criminal Court (ICC) judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to support a trial. Last week, the ICC said charges of genocide against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could be resubmitted.

• Asian skeleton found in ruins suggests Roman Empire larger than thought

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:09 pm

  Source: Telegraph (UK) (2-8-10)Archeologists have discovered the 2,000-year-old skeleton of an Asian man in an ancient cemetery in Italy, suggesting that the Roman Empire's reach was far more extensive than previously thought. Although the Romans are known to have traded for silk and exotic spices with China, it was thought that most of the commerce was conducted through intermediaries along the Silk Route and that no Chinese or other Asians entered the empire itself. But that orthodoxy will now have to be re-examined after a team of Canadian archaeologists conducted DNA analysis on the man's…

• Hidden fire chokes last life from US ghost town

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:07 pm

  Source: Telegraph (UK) (2-8-10)That is the bizarre fate of Centralia, where a vast, subterranean coal fire ignited in an accident almost 50 years ago, gradually turning the settlement, about two hours drive from Philadelphia, into a ghost town. Of the original population of around 1,000, fewer than a dozen people remain, refusing to obey government orders to leave their homes. Fading signs still mark Plum Street, or Apple, or Grape. There are telephone poles, street lamps, and graveyards - four of them. But there are almost no homes. Bare grass lines the crumbling sidewalks. Sometimes a few…

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  Blog 4 History: American & Civil War History

• Abraham Lincoln… Vampire Hunter

  Chris

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:58 pm

  Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.” “My baby boy…” she whispers before dying. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a…

• An Interesting Question…

  Chris

  6 Feb 2010 | 6:46 pm

  Here’s an interesting question: “If a piece of the presidential record remains stowed in a drawer, is it history or history waiting to happen?” The discovery of a previously unknown personal letter by Thomas Jefferson this past December, written sometime in 1808 towards the end of his presidency, was the impetuous for such a question. The “faded, stained piece of paper” apparently covered in Jefferson’s own scribbling has received more attention recently with calls for its authenticity to be confirmed. From the article: Its real value, rather, is bolstered…

• History in a Pickle Jar

  Chris

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:20 pm

  A Time Capsule was unearthed that was buried about 1850, from the news piece: Athol (Massachusetts) Historical Society President Susannah Whipps-Lee said the time capsule — which has yet to be opened — was made from an old glass container that looked like a pickle jar with a rusted metal screw top. It was buried about 150 years ago, she explained, in what is known as the Old Indian Cemetery or Settlers Burial Ground, which has no gravestones. The capsule has not been opened yet, but could contain some important and surely interesting documents. The capsule has perhaps as many as…

• Early Draft of Constitution found in Philadelphia

  Chris

  2 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  One of the thrills of delving into any historical archives is holding a piece of history in your hands. I remember when I visited the Wisconsin State Archives while researching my book on the The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War. When they brought me the daily reports of the regiment and you could still smell the campfire [from a 140 years ago at the time], it was frankly very cool. Anyway, what would be very exciting would be to hold something as important as a draft of the Constitution. Well researcher Lorianne Updike Toler did just that while exploring the thousands of historical documents…

• The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of the American Revolution

  Chris

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:54 pm

  To be sure, Americans have always been against large standing armies, yet we are the poster child for the Military Industrial Complex. For that matter, we have been ardent anti-tax; anti-big government; ect, ect. And what have we evolved into? Neither Republicans nor Democrats escape culpability. This brings me to an excellent book sent to me by The Oxford University Press As If an Enemy’s Country The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution, by Richard Archer. Archer provides a well written and astutely researched narrative that outlines the origins of the American…

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  Anglo-Dutch Wars

• The Princess Maria (Dutch prize)

  Jim

  6 Feb 2010 | 12:52 pm

  I just received my copy of Rif Winfield's new book. I noticed what he wrote about the Dutch prize, Princess Maria, that served in the First Anglo-Dutch War for the English. The Princess Maria had been built as the Rotterdam ship Princess Roijael Maria in 1643. I did some calculations about the ship: Dimensions in Maas feet: 114ft x 27ft x 12ft 200 Rotterdam lasts Dimensions in Amsterdam feet:

• Is there a key to the ships in the Battle of Livorno drawing?

  Jim

  15 Jan 2010 | 6:01 am

  I use the Battle of Livorno drawing as my desktop image on one computer. This is the classic drawing by Willem van de Velde de Oude that shows the stern of the Maan, presumably capturing the English Leopard in the battle. The stern of the Witte Oliphant, a 34-gun hired ship, is visible to the left, somewhat closer. I have wondered if there is a key to the ships in the drawing that identifies them.

• The Jaarsveld and Vrede

  Jim

  4 Jan 2010 | 4:56 pm

  Two large ships were built in 1650, right before the Vrijheid was built. Lists from 1652 give the Jaarsveld and Vrede very similar dimensions. The Vrede may have been slightly larger. We really don't know how accurate the dimensions listed for the Jaarsveld were: 130ft x 32ft x 13ft x 7ft. The Vrede is listed in later lists as 131-1/2ft x 32-1/2ft x 13-1/2ft x 7ft. The Jaarsveld is listed as

• The "Three Days Battle"

  Jim

  3 Jan 2010 | 6:51 am

  The Three Days Battle (more prominently known as the Battle of Portland to the English-speaking peoples) was a hard-fought action between the main English fleet and the main Dutch fleet, which was protecting a large convoy. The battle was fought from 28 February to 2 March 1653 (new style dates). None of the accounts that are known have a fleet list for the Dutch. Presumably, the records were

• Another look at the 30 June 1652 Dutch fleet list

  Jim

  12 Dec 2009 | 9:20 am

  I was looking again at the published Dutch fleet list dated 30 June 1652 that Carl Stapel had passed to me several years ago. The good thing about the list is that it shows the fleet organization and all but two of the ships can be identified by the captains' names. But while the list is dated 30 June, there are some anomolies. By 30 June, Adriaan de Zeeuw had been killed and Sijmon Cornelisz

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  American Presidents Blog

• Andrew Jackson Donelson

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:31 am

  I figured I'd take Frances' hint and post on Andrew Jackson Donelseon, another one of the Jacksons' "children." I posted on his first wife, Emily, earlier (as a note, they were first cousins). When I was writing on Andrew Jackson, Jr., I actually kept finding things on Andrew Jackson Donelson in any case! You can find entries on him in both the Tennessee Encylopedia and the Handbook of Texas. Andrew Jackson Donelson was the nephew of Rachel Jackson and spent part of his early life at the Hermitage:Andrew Jackson Donelson, son of Samuel and Mary Donelson, was a soldier, lawyer, politician, and…

• George Bush's Training Plane

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:12 pm

  I have one last Hawaii post for you from our trip last month. One of the places we visited on Oahu (so in Honolulu) was the Pacific Aviation Museum (this is on Ford Island, right near the Pearl Harbor monuments - you actually take the shuttle from the Pearl Harbor site because this is on a military base and so you can't easily drive there yourself), where I found this interesting piece of presidential history for you! Above you see a Stearman N2S-3 (that's my husband and brother in the picture - my husband is the one by the plane, in case you were wondering), which was used to train WWII…

• Andrew Jackson, Jr.

  5 Feb 2010 | 2:23 pm

  Andrew and Rachel Jackson actually served as guardians for numerous children over the years, including one Native American (see Michael's post on this topic). The one they adopted, and who inherited Jackson's Hermitage, was Andrew Jackson, Jr. Now I've posted on his wife, Sarah Yorke Jackson, so I thought it was time to post a little on him:In 1808, they took in an infant; one of a set of twins, of Rachel's brother Severn Donelson and his wife Elizabeth and raised him as their own. They named him Andrew Jackson Junior (1808-1865). Although some accounts suggest they took the child because of…

• Battle of the Standards

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:33 am

  We spent last week discussing the issue of gold vs. silver standards in my US history class as part of the Election of 1896, so I thought I'd share this fun lesson plan you can do with middle and high school students on the same topic. There are tons of links here that help students explore the issue and then discussion questions at the end as well as an interative activity. Here is some background on the currency issue to start with:The bitter controversy surrounding the issues of "free silver" and "sound money," so central to the 1896 campaign, has proved difficult for historians to…

• The Ostend Manifesto

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:32 am

  I have this pair of magnets on my fridge. They don’t really belong to me. I confiscated them years ago from a student. He was throwing them up in the air, and as they whizzed past each other they bumped against each other making clicking and zinging noises as they fell back towards his outstretched hands. Over and over he threw them up in the air. The young man throwing them was a very intelligent student. It was possible for him to comprehend every word I said during those few precious minutes of instructional time, BUT there were students around him that weren’t as fortunate. They were…

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  History According to Bob

• Overview of the Spanish American War

  Bob Packett

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  This show is the openning of a new series about the Spanish American War so this show is an overview of what will be covered in the coming months.r .

• Gyda and King Harald

  Bob Packett

  6 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  This show is about Gyda and her challenge to King Harald of Norway .

• American Civil War February 1863

  Bob Packett

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  This show is about all the maneuvering as the Union moved closer to Vicksburg and the Army of the Potomac planned for a spring offensive .

• Prussia After Austerlitz

  Bob Packett

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  This show is about difficult position that Prussia found itself after the defeat of the Coalition forces at Austerlitz.

• Gallic Military

  Bob Packett

  3 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  This show is about military organization, weapons, tactics of the various traibes in Gaul that will be facing Caesar's legions..

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  HistoryNet - From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher

• What historic period do you most like to read about?

  HistoryNet Staff

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:20 pm

  What historic period do you most like to read about?

• Daily Quiz for February 9, 2010

  HistoryNet Staff

  8 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm

  This general was known as "Old Fuss and Feathers."

• What Supreme Court decision most changed the course of American history?

  HistoryNet Staff

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:20 pm

  What Supreme Court decision most changed the course of American history?

• Daily Quiz for February 8, 2010

  HistoryNet Staff

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:01 pm

  The Bear Flag Republic existed briefly on this continent.

• 'The Bombing of Germany' on PBS

  GeraldS

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:57 pm

  The Bombing of Germany, a new episode of American Experience on PBS, delivers some new wrinkles in examining this well-covered subject, enhanced by excellent period film footage and interviews with survivors.

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  The History Channel - This Day in History - Lead Story

• Satchel Paige nominated to Baseball Hall of Fame

  9 Feb 2010 | 8:07 am

  On this day in 1971, pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige becomes the first Negro League veteran to be nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame. In August of that year, Paige, a pitching legend known for his fastball, showmanship and the longevity of his playing career, which spanned five decades, was inducted. Joe DiMaggio once called Paige "the best and fastest pitcher I've ever faced." Paige was born in Mobile, Alabama, most likely on July 7, 1906, although the exact date remains a mystery. He earned his nickname, Satchel, as a boy when he earned money carrying passengers' bags at train stations.

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  On this day in history

• 1649: Charles I is buried, without a funeral, at Windsor rather than Westminster, to avoid public disturbances.

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:05 pm

• 1943: US forces retake the strategically vital Guadalcanal Island from the Japanese after a six-month battle.

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:05 pm

• 1950: US senator Joseph McCarthy begins an anti-communist crusade with allegations against the State Department.

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:05 pm

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  World War II History

• WWII in HD Contest Results

  Steven Terjeson

  2 Feb 2010 | 8:22 am

  Congrats to Toni from NY on winning the WWII in HD giveaway contest! We hope you enjoy it, the series is very moving and shows a lot of scenes never before made public. If you weren’t the lucky winner this time you can order the DVD at the links below. Check back soon for the next contest! WWII in HD DVD set: http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=108161&v=history_show_wwii-in-hd&pagemax=all And for the Blu ray edition: http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=108164&v=history_show_wwii-in-hd&pagemax=all

• International Conference on WWII

  Steven Terjeson

  28 Jan 2010 | 2:19 pm

  The National World War II Museum announces next International Conference on WWII Stellar lineup of historians, authors, filmmakers, veterans and more to explore the war that changed the world NEW ORLEANS (January 28, 2010) – The National World War II Museum’s first International Conference on World War II in 2006 set the precedent for outstanding scholarship and public history on the most pivotal event of the modern era. The Museum continues this important initiative on March 18-20 in New Orleans as the 2010 International Conference features riveting presentations of the most…

• CONTEST – WWII in HD

  Steven Terjeson

  25 Jan 2010 | 12:40 pm

  It’s time for a new contest! On January 26 A&E Home entertainment (History Channel) is releasing the DVD and Blu-ray edition of WWII in HD. We have a DVD copy to give away! We will pick the winner this Friday (Jan 29, 2010), US residents only, sorry! You can enter the contest in 2 ways, plus a bonus entry option! Contest entry: 1) Send us an email with your name and reply email address to steve (at) wwarii.com or 2) Follow us on twitter and re-tweet the following message: “CONTEST-Follow @WWarII and retweet this message to enter to win a DVD set of WWII in HD…

• World War II History for January 18

  Steven Terjeson

  18 Jan 2010 | 9:42 am

  Today in WWII History World War II History for January 18 Podcast: 01.18.1940 – CBS Today In Europe 1942 - Russian forces under General Timoshenko launched a fresh offensive against the Germans on the central front. The southern front was marked by strong gains by the Red Army in the Ukraine. 1942 - Burma’s Premier U Saw was “detained” by the British for allegedly being in communication with the Japanese. 1942 - Germany, Italy, and Japan sign a military convention in Berlin, laying down “guidelines for common operations against the common enemies.” 1943 -…

• B-29 Commentary

  Steven Terjeson

  30 Dec 2009 | 9:14 am

  Commentary about the B-29 by Ed Hart: The B-29 was an inflection point in the history of aviation technology, war fighting…and program management. It certainly rivaled the A-Bomb program, and the fact that the two programs came together to end the war is – I think – instructive to all of us. I recently saw a program on the B-29 on History Channel and thought that I would reach out to this site to see if any “old timers” are out there who might be able to give accuracy to some impressions that I have carried for 50 years. I hold memories of stories told to me by a…

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  Blog 4 History: American & Civil War History

• Abraham Lincoln… Vampire Hunter

  Chris

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:58 pm

  Indiana, 1818. Moonlight falls through the dense woods that surround a one-room cabin, where a nine-year-old Abraham Lincoln kneels at his suffering mother’s bedside. She’s been stricken with something the old-timers call “Milk Sickness.” “My baby boy…” she whispers before dying. Only later will the grieving Abe learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire. When the truth becomes known to young Lincoln, he writes in his journal, “henceforth my life shall be one of rigorous study and devotion. I shall become a…

• An Interesting Question…

  Chris

  6 Feb 2010 | 6:46 pm

  Here’s an interesting question: “If a piece of the presidential record remains stowed in a drawer, is it history or history waiting to happen?” The discovery of a previously unknown personal letter by Thomas Jefferson this past December, written sometime in 1808 towards the end of his presidency, was the impetuous for such a question. The “faded, stained piece of paper” apparently covered in Jefferson’s own scribbling has received more attention recently with calls for its authenticity to be confirmed. From the article: Its real value, rather, is bolstered…

• History in a Pickle Jar

  Chris

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:20 pm

  A Time Capsule was unearthed that was buried about 1850, from the news piece: Athol (Massachusetts) Historical Society President Susannah Whipps-Lee said the time capsule — which has yet to be opened — was made from an old glass container that looked like a pickle jar with a rusted metal screw top. It was buried about 150 years ago, she explained, in what is known as the Old Indian Cemetery or Settlers Burial Ground, which has no gravestones. The capsule has not been opened yet, but could contain some important and surely interesting documents. The capsule has perhaps as many as…

• Early Draft of Constitution found in Philadelphia

  Chris

  2 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

  One of the thrills of delving into any historical archives is holding a piece of history in your hands. I remember when I visited the Wisconsin State Archives while researching my book on the The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War. When they brought me the daily reports of the regiment and you could still smell the campfire [from a 140 years ago at the time], it was frankly very cool. Anyway, what would be very exciting would be to hold something as important as a draft of the Constitution. Well researcher Lorianne Updike Toler did just that while exploring the thousands of historical documents…

• The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of the American Revolution

  Chris

  1 Feb 2010 | 6:54 pm

  To be sure, Americans have always been against large standing armies, yet we are the poster child for the Military Industrial Complex. For that matter, we have been ardent anti-tax; anti-big government; ect, ect. And what have we evolved into? Neither Republicans nor Democrats escape culpability. This brings me to an excellent book sent to me by The Oxford University Press As If an Enemy’s Country The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution, by Richard Archer. Archer provides a well written and astutely researched narrative that outlines the origins of the American…

• 
  New York History

• Plattsburgh's Anti-Slavery Interpretive Panel Unveiling

  John Warren

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Plattsburgh's first interpretive panel celebrating the Anti-Slavery movement will be dedicated at 5 pm on February 16, 2010. The unveiling will take place in front of the main entrance to the First Presbyterian Church at 34 Brinkerhoff Street. Interim pastor Virginia Murray and North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association president, Don Papson, will be joined by members of the church

• Finger Lakes Museum Site Selection Narrowed to Two

  John Warren

  8 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am

  First there were nineteen. Then there were five. Now there are two. John Adamski, president of the Board of Trustees of the Finger Lakes Cultural & Natural History Museum, said today that the Site Selection Committee has referred two sites to the board for further assessment. They are the Geneva/Seneca Lake State Park site along the lakefront in Geneva and Keuka Lake State Park near Branchport in

• State Museum Showing Major Stoneware Exhibit

  John Warren

  8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  “It’s a prime example of American folk art, probably one of the best collections of decorated stoneware in the country,” is how John Scherer, Historian Emeritus of the New York State Museum characterized the Weitsman Stoneware Collection. The over 200-piece collection was donated to the museum by Adam J. Weitsman, one of the leading collectors of 18th and 19th Century stoneware. Forty unique

• Rensselaer County Historical Society Host Valentine Programs

  John Warren

  7 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Celebrate Valentine’s Day at the Rensselaer County Historical Society and Museum (RCHS) for a series of valentines programs. Tokens of Love; from lockets and hair jewelry to ornate cards people have always found ways to express their love for one another. View some of the unique expressions of love from the collection of RCHS and enjoy a three course lunch at Daisy Baker’s Restaurant. Love in

• Early American Industries Grants Program

  John Warren

  6 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  The Early American Industries Association (EAIA) has announced a $6,000 Research Grants Program to provide grants to individuals or institutions engaged in research projects that relate to historic trades, crafts, and tools and their impact on our lives. The numbers and amount of each grant is to be given at the discretion of a committee, with no one grant to exceed $2,000.The 2009 grant

• 
  Gil Troy

• Gil Troy: “Obama’s Siren Song of … Sacrifice?”:

  giltroy

  8 Feb 2010 | 12:34 am

  Miller McCune, 2-7-10 Calls to work together for the common good during the current crises have been emanating at breakneck pace from the Obama administration. Academics discuss how to get the results of a Roosevelt, and not a Carter. Historian Gil Troy of McGill University in Montreal also finds that instructive, noting that gearing people up for a metaphorical war can be an effective way of asking them to sacrifice. In recent decades, “We’ve had an unfortunate tradition for decades of presidents soothing us,” he said. “We have sort of an addiction to having our cake…

• Irwin Cotler deserves Nobel Prize

  giltroy

  7 Feb 2010 | 1:40 am

  By Gil Troy, McGill University, Montreal Gazette, 2-6-10 Earlier this week, to make the February 1 deadline, I asserted my few powers as an historian and nominated my colleague and friend, the human rights activist, former Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General, and current Member of the Canadian Parliament, Professor Irwin Cotler, for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. For decades, Professor Cotler has been crisscrossing the globe, defending human rights, fighting racism, opposing apartheid, trying to prevent genocide. As educator, legislator, advocate and activist, he has been steadfast in…

• Gil Troy on “Take 5″

  giltroy

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:17 am

  Take 5 Complete Edition 02/02/10 CIUT 89.5 FM McGill History Professor Gil Troy on Barack Obama’s first year as POTUS… Download Mp3

• Once Again the State of the Union Makes a President Strong

  giltroy

  28 Jan 2010 | 7:47 pm

  By Gil Troy, HNN, 1-28-10 The State of the Union Address is Woodrow Wilson’s gift to future presidents. President Thomas Jefferson submitted the annual update the Constitution mandated in writing, deeming presidential appearances before Congress too monarchical. In December 1913, after his first year in office, Wilson decided to address a joint session of Congress directly. Ninety-six-years and a little more than one month later, Barack Obama took full advantage of President Wilson’s gift, appearing crisp and commanding after weeks when even the so-far-embarrassingly-pliant Washington…

• President Barack Obama: Driving From the Center

  giltroy

  21 Jan 2010 | 9:08 pm

  By Gil Troy, The Globe and Mail, 1-20-10 The people of Massachusetts handed President Barack Obama a stinging political rebuke on his first anniversary in office. The descent from “Yes we can” to “No we won’t” was dizzying. Mr. Obama won the Bay State last year by more than 25 percentage points in his triumphal march to his historic inauguration. A year later, Republican Scott Brown won the special Massachusetts Senate election by five points to replace the late Ted Kennedy. The message is clear: Voters, especially independent ones, believe Mr. Obama’s presidency is on the…

• 
  Progressive Historians: History For Our Future

• Open Thread

  AndrewMc

  9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

  Welcome to Tuesday. What ails ya? (Read the full post at ProgressiveHistorians.)

• Tierra y Libertad

  midtowng

  30 Jan 2010 | 9:44 pm

  On January 29, 1911, a small band of 18 revolutionaries marched into Mexicali and seized the town, practically without firing a shot. Thus began one of the most unusual and controversial episodes in... (Read the full post at ProgressiveHistorians.)

• Howard Zinn dies at 87

  elle

  27 Jan 2010 | 4:59 pm

  I'm not up for many words right now. Some details, here. (Read the full post at ProgressiveHistorians.)

• Hang on, Haiti

  Lisa Pease

  20 Jan 2010 | 5:05 pm

  I'm working hard on an article re the sorry history of America's interventions in Haiti. But I felt compelled to write and share a short version as well, in limerick form. Hang on, Haiti America's... (Read the full post at ProgressiveHistorians.)

• Martin Luther King

  AndrewMc

  18 Jan 2010 | 5:24 am

  Today is the day that the nation celebrates Martin Luther King Day. Expect to see a great number of "I Have A Dream" videos, remembrances, and musings. The "I Have a Dream Speech" is a popular one... (Read the full post at ProgressiveHistorians.)

• 
  Soldiers of the 38th

• Private William Jordan

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:36 am

  Born on 17 September 1891 in Lindsay, Ontario - son of Mrs. Elizabeth Jordan, Lindsay, Ontario - at the time of his conscription in 1918: single; Methodist; trade as farmer; no current or previous military service; height of 5 feet 10.5 inches; chest of 35 inches fully expanded; dark complexion; gray eyes; dark hair.Conscripted into the 1st Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment, CEF, in Kingston, Ontario, on 5 March 1918 (number 3057127) - taken on the strength of the 38th Battalion, CEF, on 10 or 11 October 1918 - invalided sick to England on 20 December 1918.(sources: Library and…

• Private Malcolm Dennis Jordan

  8 Feb 2010 | 8:24 am

  Born on 14 September 1895 in Debuga, India - next of kin listed as Mrs. Jordan, Hazanibagh, East India Railway, India - at the time of his enlistment in 1915: trade as agricultural student; single; currently a member of the Active Militia; previously served with the English public school Officers' Training Corps in Dover (two years); Church of England; height of 5 feet 10 inches; chest of 38 inches fully expanded; dark complexion; dark eyes; dark hair.Joined the 38th Battalion, CEF, in Guelph, Ontario, on 16 March 1915 (number 411001) - transferred to Princess Patricia's Canadian Light…

• Private Joseph Jordan

  7 Feb 2010 | 8:20 am

  Born on 16 March 1884 in Osgoode, Ontario - son of Mrs. M. Jordan, Osgoode, Ontario - at the time of his enlistment in 1918: present address in Ottawa, Ontario; single; Roman Catholic; trade as farmer; no current or previous military service; height of 5 feet 6 inches; chest of 36.5 inches fully expanded; dark complexion; blue eyes; black hair.Conscripted into the 2nd Depot Battalion, Eastern Ontario Regiment, CEF, in Ottawa, Ontario, on 14 February 1918 (number 4025050) - taken on the strength of the 38th Battalion, CEF, on 9 or 10 August 1918 - wounded on 30 September 1918 - invalided to…

• Private Walter Melville Jones

  7 Feb 2010 | 7:52 am

  Born on 17 February 1894 in London, Ontario - next of kin listed as Mary Francis Jones, London, Ontario - at the time of his enlistment in 1915: trade as student at the Ontario Agricultural College; single; currently a member of the Guelph Canadian Officers' Training Corps; no previous military service; Church of England; height of 5 feet 7.5 inches; chest of 36 inches fully expanded; blue eyes; fair hair.Joined the 38th Battalion, CEF, in Guelph, Ontario, on 16 March 1915 (number 411032) - transferred to Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry on 17 July 1915 - transferred to 4th…

• Private Thomas Corbett Jones

  6 Feb 2010 | 7:47 am

  Born on 1 October 1897 in Salford, Lancashire, England - half-brother of Charles W. Corbett, Berlin, Ontario - at the time of his enlistment in 1915: trade as rubbert worker; single; no current or previous military service; Church of England; height of 5 feet 4 inches; chest of 32.25 inches fully expanded; medium complexion; brown eyes; brown hair.Joined the No.2 Overseas Army Service Corps Training Depot, CEF, in Berlin, Ontario, on 29 October 1915 (number 751069) - taken on the strength of the 38th Battalion, CEF, on 11 or 12 July 1917 - transferred to the Canadian Machine Gun Corps,…

• 
  USHistoryBlog.com

• John Muir - Library of America's Story of the Week

  klkatz

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:50 am

  I like books. I like collecting books and referencing books and knowing that I have books that could cover almost every part of American history. But like most of the free world, I don't like to pay for books. To subscribe to the books that Library of America (LOA) offers, one has to pay a heft price. LOA usually has some kind of introductory offer that is too good to pass up. I acquired 3 books this way. I was browsing my own web site, http://USHistorySite.com and saw an add for an Abraham Lincoln collection for about $5, and a free book about US Grant. I clicked on the add (even though it…

• 100 Incredible Lectures for History Lovers

  USHistorySite

  4 Feb 2010 | 8:35 am

  Here's a great resource for teachers and students. Scrolling through the list you can probably find something for almost any topic in world history, government, economics, etc...100 Lectures for History Lovers I might suggest having some of your students listen to some of these lectures for extra credit and then report the highlights back to the class. You can show bits and pieces of the lectures in class, or for your tech-savvy students, perhaps they can edit the lectures to say something that wasn't really said... kind of a propaganda technique.This content is copyrighted. Copyright (c)…

• A Teddy Bear of A Book....

  klkatz

  26 Jan 2010 | 3:28 pm

  I'm trying like heck to get through the Wilderness Warrior... I'm loving every page of it...but I can't seem to find time to actually sit down and read it.This in and of itself is kind of a paradox... and here's why. In the book Teddy Roosevelt seems to accomplish an amazing amount of work with what seems to be very little free time. I envy his passion, his drive and his determination to do his job, and still find time for his adventures and his passion of wildlife.The book opens up a whole new version of TR that I had never seen before. It recognizes his love of family and his conservative,…

• My School

  klkatz

  13 Jan 2010 | 4:32 pm

  It's not often I let down my online wall and allow people into my personal life. This post is an exception. I'm very proud to say that my school has been highlighted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the online version of the this article has been picked up in several national news feeds. It's nice to know the work we've been doing wearing many different hats, as founding teachers at a new high school is starting to be noticed.Here's the article: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/81206917.htmlWe're in our second year. We have just 9th and 10th graders. I'm happy to say as the boy's…

• 2010 Teacher of the Year Nominations

  klkatz

  27 Dec 2009 | 8:30 am

  The National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Teacher of the Year Awards. The Teacher of the Year program is part of the NCSS's continuous efforts to highlight social studies teachers and their importance in education.Winners will receive $2,500 cash award and an opportunity to present at the NCSS conference and up to $500 in travel and lodging expenses.If you've got someone in mind who is worthy of such an award, or perhaps you'd like to nudge someone to nominate you, you must have the nominations postmarked by April 1.For more information and…

• 
  The Virtual Dime Museum

• The New York Chocolate School

  8 Feb 2010 | 7:23 am

  Who wouldn't want to go to class at the New York Chocolate School? The School was run by restauranteur and confectioner Henri Maillard, and was located at 114 West 25th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues, approximately where a garage stands today). This was also the building in which Maillard had his confectionary factory. Henri Maillard had been famous for his chocolates and confections since 1848, in which year he arrived in New York; he had served his creations to Lincoln in the White House and had taken a gold medal at the Paris Exposition in 1878. At this point I want to direct you over…

• "With A Juggler You Will Visit Many Lands"

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:25 am

  Here is one of the books that fortune tellers like Madame Prewster and Madame Morrow (see links below for more on them) used when New Yorkers ventured into the seedier parts of downtown to consult them in the mid-19th century. The mysterious Madam Le Marchand - or an unknown writer posing as Madam - published this Fortune Teller and Dreamer's Dictionary in 1863. Le Marchand's book told both the professional and amateur fortune teller how to read cards, tea and coffee grounds, eggs, apple-parings, the palm of a client's hand or the moles on their body. It contained a dictionary of dreams and a…

• Lost and Found in Victorian Brooklyn

  31 Jan 2010 | 8:47 am

  I like the little ads and classified in old newspapers very much. They are full of things that you cannot find anywhere else, about the odd little things in people's everyday lives long ago. I will post any extremely odd ones that I find (I'm saving one about a missing man that sounds like the beginning of a mystery novel) - but for today, here are some interesting items from the Lost and Found column of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. First, two of the many animals that went missing in 19th century Brooklyn - a group which includes cows and farm animals (hinting at the many still-rural places in…

• David Barnett and the Landseer Lion

  27 Jan 2010 | 6:36 am

  This is the story of two matched sketches, drawn by one of England's greatest artists, and of two art-loving friends in late 19th century Brooklyn, New York. The friends were a man named Henry Beam and my 3rd great uncle*, an English-born lawyer named David Barnett. Sir Edwin Landseer (1802-73) was one of the most famous and highly regarded artists in Victorian England. He is especially famous for his paintings and sketches of animals; in addition, he sculpted the bronze lions that surround Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London. Queen Victoria commissioned him to paint her and her…

• Some Victorian Drinking Fountains

  25 Jan 2010 | 7:11 am

  Here is a little bit of Victorian trivia to start off the week It is really just a sampling of what I was able to find out. I have restrained myself from writing a whole essay, since you and I both have other things to do! In any case...I found this stereograph of a lady using a drinking fountain in Brooklyn's Prospect Park and was intrigued, because I had never imagined that they had existed in the 1870s. The fountain was certainly there by 1876, when someone advertised in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle's Lost and Found column that they had lost three rings "at the drinking fountain near the…

• 
  History Is Elementary

• 13 Quick Facts Regarding "The Federalist"

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:37 am

  At some point during your high school government class or college Political Science course you had to read The Federalist. Jacob Cooke in the forward section for the collection of essays writes….the authoritative exposition of the Constitution [and] occupies an unrivaled place in our national political literature. 1. There are actually 85 articles regarding the ratification of the United States Constitution. They were originally published with the titles "The Federalist, No. 1”, The Federalist, No. 2”, etc.2. Originally only 84 essays were written – not 85. The extra essay came about…

• Sometimes a Little Seizure Is Necessary

  3 Feb 2010 | 7:45 am

  I have this pair of magnets on my fridge. They don’t really belong to me. I confiscated them years ago from a student. He was throwing them up in the air, and as they whizzed past each other they bumped against each other making clicking and zinging noises as they fell back towards his outstretched hands. Over and over he threw them up in the air. The young man throwing them was a very intelligent student. It was possible for him to comprehend every word I said during those few precious minutes of instructional time, BUT there were students around him that weren’t as fortunate. They were…

• Listen My Children....

  2 Feb 2010 | 11:41 am

  While most of my students learn history in a school setting from educators like myself, we cannot emphasize family history enough.It IS important.Family history helps students to realize their place within their families as well as how they fit in with historical events. Learning family history can answer questions regarding when relatives first arrived in North America and where they settled. Details regarding everyday life can be internalized, and the effects of certain events can help us connect to events we didn’t live through such as the Great Depression or World War II.While there are…

• 13 Facts About the Laws of Burgos, 1512-1513

  28 Jan 2010 | 5:22 am

  1. Like many such proclamations and treaties the title…..Laws of Burgos…is based on a location. The document was formerly published in Burgos, Spain in 1512.2. The laws were the first code of conduct governing how Native Americans should be treated in the Americas by Spanish foreigners in America.3. At first the laws only included the island of Hispanola, but later Puerto Rico and Jamaica was included.4. The laws addressed the mistreatment of natives and called for their conversion to Catholicism.5. The laws were rarely enforced making the Laws of Burgos of little value.6. The laws called…

• A Convoluted and Corrupt System

  26 Jan 2010 | 6:13 pm

  Ask students today to brainstorm a few adjectives to describe politicians and the words honest, trustworthy, and true will rarely come up. Descriptors that are provided over and over are crook, shady, and liar. I have to wonder….is it the politician who is dishonest or does the dishonesty stem from such a convoluted and corrupt system that has been allowed to flourish?In 1975, following President Nixon’s resignation from the White House, Americans were longing for a simpler time….a time when they felt they had a more honest relationship with the man inhabiting the White House.Follow…

• 
  Discovery News - History News

• Boy Soldier, 14, UK's Youngest WWII Death

  6 Feb 2010 | 3:31 am

  Reginald Earnshaw lied about his age to enter the British navy and then died during a German attack in 1941.

• Flashback: Images From the Week's News

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

  Take a look back at this week's top stories in the Discovery News Flashback Slide Show.

• Legends of the Winter Olympics

  1 Feb 2010 | 9:20 am

  Explore some of the greatest heroes and champions of the Winter Olympic Games.

• Protestors Reflect on Civil Rights Sit-Ins

  1 Feb 2010 | 4:42 am

  Four college freshmen walked quietly into a Greensboro dime store in 1960, and changed the course of history.

• Flashback: Images From the Week's News

  29 Jan 2010 | 10:00 am

  Take a look at this week's top stories in the Discovery News Flashback Slide Show.

• 
  O Say Can You See?

• What would you like to do at the museum?

  Matthew MacArthur

  9 Feb 2010 | 7:47 am

  In the past, readers have told us that they view the National Museum of American History as a trusted source of information and that they value accuracy in the information we present about our collections. But there are many ways to deliver information to people who visit the museum beyond just posting labels on a wall. In the recent book Life Stages of the Museum Visitor, authors Susie Wilkening and James Chung present useful data about museum audiences from a marketing-research perspective. One part that especially caught my attention reported the results of a survey about how…

• Is this on the test? Integrating American history into language arts

  Jenny Wei

  4 Feb 2010 | 7:29 am

  There are only so many hours in the classroom day, and high-stakes testing is encouraging teachers to adapt their classroom practices to support their students on the examinations. If you’re a teacher trying to integrate more history into your language arts classroom, here are some tips from creative teachers I’ve met: Writing historical fiction: One member of our 2008 Teacher Advisory Group, a local middle-school teacher, likes to use historical artifacts as the starting points for writing exercises. She introduces a bit of history and a historical artifact, then asks her students to…

• We need each other

  Shannon Perich

  3 Feb 2010 | 8:53 am

  The recording, discovering, and sharing of history is a collaboration that takes place over time with many hands involved. Museums are one part of the equation, and sometimes genealogists are another.Here’s what I mean: In 2003, the museum collected an 1860 college yearbook from Rutgers University. We selected this album over several others, because it was in excellent condition, the photographer was included in the album, and it also contained interesting text alongside the photographs. Our primary interest was in the photographer, George K. Warren. He was a Boston area photographer who…

• Secrets of the stores

  Kathy Sklar

  2 Feb 2010 | 12:31 pm

  For many of our visitors, a trip to the museum is not complete without a souvenir purchased at our stores. We have three at the museum, and they’re full of merchandise that will appeal to families, our youngest visitor, our most intellectual—even the students on the tightest budget. Mary Todd Lincoln was determined to show her high style despite the turmoil of the Civil War. She selected the Lincoln White House china shortly after her husband's inauguration. But what really catches our visitors’ attention and moves them to buy something? Is it our beautiful Star-Spangled…

• Of avatars and inventors

  NMAH

  28 Jan 2010 | 7:21 am

  James Cameron’s Avatar was the box office smash to beat over the holiday season. The director of the Alien and Terminator franchises, Cameron has made CGI (computer-generated imagery) and other cutting-edge special effects his cinematic bread and butter. But, despite his reputation as today’s special effects master par excellence, I was not surprised to see this headline in a recent issue of Newsweek: “It’s The Story, Stupid: Directors James Cameron and Peter Jackson are the kings of new film technology. But they insist they aren’t slaves to it.” The 1979 movie Alien is a…

• 
  Page in History

• Cool! 100+ Year Old Brandy Found in Antartica

  7 Feb 2010 | 5:26 am

  IrishTimes.com is reporting that "[T]hree crates of Scotch whisky and two crates of brandy buried under Antarctic ice for more than 100 years have been recovered by a heritage team restoring Irish-born explorer Ernest Shackleton’s hut."Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922), according to Wikipedia "was an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures

• 2,000 Year Old Mongolian Tomb Yields 70 y.o. Westerner

  5 Feb 2010 | 10:35 am

  IOne of the reasons DNA studies are so interesting is that they expose information that wouldn't immediately be available through other means. And even when physiological remains do speak clearly, it is not with the same sort of accuracy. In this article from DiscoveryNews for example, it's clear that the skeletal remains that have been unearthed in a 2,000 year old cemetery are of an important

• "Primordial Soup Theory" Kicked to the Curb

  4 Feb 2010 | 4:57 am

  IGeesh. Ever since I can remember --which is a long time -- the primordial soup theory (wikipedia) has reigned supreme as an explanation for the origins of life. Now however, a team from University College London is calling it into question.Arguing that UV radiation fails to live up to the demands of Thermodynamic Theory, the investigators have looked to the seminal work of geochemist Michael

• First Neanderthal Body Parts Found in Poland

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:11 pm

  Neanderthal artifacts have been found in Poland before, but never any actual body parts... UNTIL recently when three "teeth were unearthed in the Stajnia [this should be Stajna] Cave, north of the Carpathian Mountains, along with flint tools and the bones of the woolly mammoth and the woolly rhinoceros, both extinct Ice Age species."The researchers also found a hammer made of reindeer antler and

• Thought These Books Looked Interesting

  2 Feb 2010 | 8:09 am

  The Diary of Antera Dukean Eighteenth-Century African Slave TraderDescription::: In his diary, Antera Duke (ca.1735-ca.1809) wrote the only surviving eyewitness account of the slave trade by an African merchant.A leader in late eighteenth-century Old Calabar, a cluster of Efik-speaking communities in the Cross River region, he resided in Duke Town, forty-five miles from the Atlantic Ocean in what

• 
  19th Century History

• Frederick Douglass, Anti-Slavery Campaigner

  9 Feb 2010 | 1:21 am

  Frederick Douglass began his life as a slave on a Maryland plantation, yet he learned to read, escaped to freedom, and became one of America's most eloquent campaigners against slavery. After his escape, which he managed by dressing and acting like a sailor, a likely occupation for a free black, Douglass met up with abolitionists based in New England. He began giving orations, detailing the horrors of slavery. And he wrote a dramatic autobiography, which became not only a major document for the abolitionist cause but a classic of American literature. Douglass had to flee America for a time to…

• Victorian Roots of St. Valentine's Day

  4 Feb 2010 | 3:42 pm

  Traditions linking romance and St. Valentine's Day go back a number of centuries, but the holiday as we know it is firmly rooted in the 1800s. Cards with romantic themes began to be printed for St. Valentine's Day in the 1820s, and when postal rates became standardized in Britain a few decades later the sending of Valentines became popular. An American Valentine card industry began before the Civil War, and by the end of the 1860s the postal authorities in New York City confirmed that the sending of romantic cards had become a huge fad. Victorian Valentines actually became something of an art…

• Benjamin Disraeli, Novelist and Statesman

  31 Jan 2010 | 1:11 pm

  Benjamin Disraeli was a unique figure, a witty novelist who, despite being the ultimate outsider, became a political force in Britain, served as prime minister, and befriended Queen Victoria. Born into a Jewish family with roots in Italy and the Middle East, Disraeli was always denounced as an upstart, an outsider, and worse. Yet he somehow went from being a writer of novels to leading the Conservative Party, the bastion of wealthy landowners. For nearly two decades at the height of the British Empire the leadership of the nation passed back and forth between two amazing and eccentric…

• Charles Darwin On the Big Screen

  28 Jan 2010 | 2:20 pm

  The film "Creation," which gets wide release in the United States on January 29, relates the crisis faced by Charles Darwin while writing his landmark book, On the Origin of Species. The movie is based on a book written by Darwin's great-great grandson, Randal Keynes, who discovered some of his ancestor's letters while helping to restore the great naturalist's family home. Keynes has been doing a number of interviews about Darwin, his book, and the film. In the Los Angeles Times Keynes talked about discovering the letters as well as other family documents. In an audio interview with NPR (with…

• Discovery of Gold in California

  24 Jan 2010 | 12:20 pm

  The California Gold Rush was launched on January 24, 1848, when a worker at John Sutter's sawmill in northern California spotted a strange nugget in a waterway being built for the mill. Gold! The workers at the mill kept the find a secret for a time, but word leaked out. And by the summer of 1848 people intent on making their fortune were turning up in California in huge numbers. Newspapers on the east coast helped create "Gold Fever," and in 1849 it was estimated that as many as 100,000 "Forty-Niners" had arrived in California. John Sutter, who owned the land where the gold was first…

• 
  20th Century History

• Gandhi's Ashes Scattered

  3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

  After Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948, his body was cremated and his ashes were parceled out to a number of family and friends. One family friend, Vilas Mehta, kept the ashes she was given until she was on her deathbed last year. Mehta then entrusted in daughter-in-law with the ashes. The daughter-in-law gave the ashes back to Gandhi's family. On January 30, 2010, 62 years after Gandhi's death, Gandhi's great grandson, accompanied by about 200 family and friends, scattered the ashes into the Indian Ocean off the coast of Durban, South Africa. For more information about the…

• The First Black Ace Pilot Dies

  2 Feb 2010 | 9:09 am

  Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel Lee A. Archer was a Tuskegee Airman during World War II. Credited with shooting down five enemy planes, he was the first, and perhaps only, black ace pilot. Archer stayed in the military until retiring in 1970. He then went on to become vice president at General Foods Corp. Archer passed away at age 90 on January 27, 2010 in New York. For more about this amazing man, see this FOX News article.The First Black Ace Pilot Dies originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 17:09:56.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• Carpet Fragment From Hitler's Bunker Found

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:26 pm

  Hitler's bunker, located below the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, was where Hitler, Eva Braun, and other top ranking Nazis stayed during the heavy bombing of the city at the end of World War II. It has often been thought that the bunker was drab inside. Not so, according to a newly found artifact. During a recent renovation of the archive room at The Green Howards Museum, a museum dedicated to the British regiment named Green Howards, an envelope was found. Inside the envelope was a fragment of carpeting from Hitler's bunker. The fragment shows that the carpeting was full of color and design,…

• Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

  1 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm

  A fire at the Triangle Waist Company factory in New York City killed 146 workers. The large number of deaths exposed the dangerous conditions in high-rise factories and prompted the creation of new building, fire, and safety codes around the United States. Find out more about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 20:15:54.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• Benito Mussolini Speeches Popular on iTunes

  28 Jan 2010 | 4:03 am

  On January 21, 2010, a new iPhone application called iMussolini was launched on the Italian version of iTunes. Being sold for only $1.10 (79 euro cents), iMussolini is a collection of 100 speeches made by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. To everyone's surprise, iMussolini has become extremely popular, with about 1,000 downloads a day. It is currently the second-most popular iPhone application in Italy. The popularity of the "app" has caused much concern since it means the younger generation has a fascination with the dictator. For more about the application and the reason behind its…

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  About.com: African History

• The Elizabeth Sails from New York for West Africa – 6 February 1820

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:10 pm

  The American Colonization Society (its full name was the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States) arranged for its first wave of colonizers to head for what is now Liberia in 1820. Along with the 86 ex-slaves (of whom only a third or so were adult men) were three white ACS agents (the membership of the ACS was predominantly white, and many came from the Southern states, hoping to induce freed slaves to emigrate to Africa). The Elizabeth was accompanied on its voyage to Africa by an American sloop, the USS Cyane. Stopping first at Sierra Leone, they then…

• African Slavery 101

  3 Feb 2010 | 4:10 pm

  Although slavery has been practiced for almost the whole of recorded history, the vast numbers involved in the African slave trade has left a legacy which can not be ignored. Whether slavery existed within sub-Saharan African societies before the arrival of Europeans is a hotly contested point between Afrocentric and Eurocentric academics. What is certain is that Africans were subjected to several forms of slavery over the centuries, including chattel slavery under both the Muslims with the trans-Saharan slave trade, and Europeans through the trans-Atlantic slave trade.African Slavery 101…

• Macmillan's "Wind of Change" Speech: 3 February 1960

  2 Feb 2010 | 4:10 pm

  The "Wind of Change" speech was made by the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, whilst addressing the South African Parliament during his tour of African Commonwealth states. It was a watershed moment in the struggle for black nationalism in Africa and the independence movement across the continent. It also signaled a change in attitude towards the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Find out more... See Also: Text of the "Wind of Change" Speech Wind of Change: Verwoerd replyMacmillan's "Wind of Change" Speech: 3 February 1960 originally appeared on About.com African History on Wednesday,…

• A Few Words About the Struggle for Independence ...

  31 Jan 2010 | 4:10 pm

  "Civilized or not civilized, ignorant or illiterate, rich or poor, we, the African States, deserve a government of our own choice. Let us make our own mistakes, but let us take comfort in the knowledge that they are our own mistakes."Thomas Joseph Mboya, Kenyan trade unionist and statesman, assassinated six years into independence, as quoted by GM Houser in 'Assessing Africa's Liberation Struggle', Africa Today, Vol. 34, No. 4, 1987. "Speaking for my generation, our attitude was that we were on the threshold of not only rediscovering ourselves as a people, but of transforming ourselves in a…

• Menes: First Pharaoh of Egypt?

  30 Jan 2010 | 4:10 pm

  According to Ancient Egyptian history (as written by the Egyptian historian Manetho, c305--285 BCE), Menes was the founder of the unified Egyptian state which combined Upper and Lower Egypt under a single monarchy. Find out more about Menes...Menes: First Pharaoh of Egypt? originally appeared on About.com African History on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 00:10:19.Permalink | Comment | Email this

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  About.com: American History

• American History Timeline 1651-1675

  7 Feb 2010 | 4:57 pm

  Find out what happened during the years 1651-1675 in America's past with this American History timeline. This was a time of conflict between the English and the Dutch. King Philip's War began. Massachusetts Bay Colony was asserting its independence. Read more about the fascinating events that occurred during this formative time in America's past. American History Timeline 1651-1675 originally appeared on About.com American History on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 00:57:54.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• End of the Spanish-American War

  5 Feb 2010 | 4:36 pm

  February 6, 1899, marked the end of the Spanish-American War. Follow the link to learn the essential facts of the conflict between the United States and Spain over Spanish policies in Cuba.End of the Spanish-American War originally appeared on About.com American History on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 00:36:29.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• American History Timeline 1626-1650

  2 Feb 2010 | 4:03 pm

  Find out what happened during the years 1626-1650 in America's past with this American History timeline. This was a time of great colonial activity amongst the English and the Dutch. New colonies were forming, and the seeds of future American independence and governance were being sown. American History Timeline 1626-1650 originally appeared on About.com American History on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 00:03:33.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• Celebrating African-American History

  31 Jan 2010 | 4:30 pm

  During the month of February, we focus on the importance of African-Americans in the history and culture of the United States. We'll begin by looking at three fascinating African-Americans: an abolitionist, a Civil Rights leader, and a President. Harriet Tubman Martin Luther King, Jr. Barack Obama Celebrating African-American History originally appeared on About.com American History on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 00:30:48.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• Andrew Jackson Escapes Assassination

  30 Jan 2010 | 4:49 pm

  January 31, 1835, President Andrew Jackson was almost assassinated by Richard Lawrence. Luckily for the President, the gun misfired twice before Lawrence was disarmed. It is said that President Jackson had to be held back from beating Lawrence with his cane. This was the first assassination attempt of a president. Andrew Jackson Escapes Assassination originally appeared on About.com American History on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 00:49:04.Permalink | Comment | Email this

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  About.com: Ancient History

• Myth Monday - Percy-us and Cheiron

  7 Feb 2010 | 10:55 pm

  I read (with a smile) that youngsters reading the books by Rick Riordan that form the basis for the movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, are absorbing the Greek myths gladly and effortlessly. Without having seen the movie -- because it opens later this week -- I can only speculate that it actually does adhere to standard myths, based on the previews and the useful teacher's guide to Rick Riordan's books. Read more...Myth Monday - Percy-us and Cheiron originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 06:55:27.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• On This Day in Ancient History Emperor Marcian Died

  6 Feb 2010 | 10:50 pm

  In A.D. 457 the Roman Emperor Marcian died. Marcian had been born in 392, probably in Illyria, and began a career as a solider. He appears to have been captured by Vandals in the 430s and then emerged from obscurity to be made emperor when the preceding one, Theodosius II, died without leaving an heir. While Marcian was emperor, he convened a Church council (Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon) and may have hired an assassin to kill Attila the Hun.The Night Attila Died - Solving the Murder of Attila the Hun Council of ChalcedonChalcedonian Creed Attila Photo © Clipart.comOn This Day…

• On this Day in Ancient History - Augustus Received a Title

  4 Feb 2010 | 10:50 pm

  Augustus. St Petersburg - Hermitage.CC Flickr User thisisbossi. In 2 B.C., the first Roman emperor, whom we call Augustus, received the title Pater patriae 'father of the country'. This title was a great honor given for outstanding service. The famous orator and Roman statesman Cicero had earned the title Pater patriae in 63 B.C. Later emperors received the title after years of service to Rome.The Roman AlphabetHow to Pronounce Words in Latin Octavianus Becomes the First Roman Emperor, Augustus CaesarBiography of CiceroOn this Day in Ancient History - Augustus Received a Title originally…

• Thursday's Term to Learn - Stipendium (Stipend)

  4 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

  Last night's Roman History book chat was the second on Tacitus' Histories, with a focus on the year of four emperors. A topic that came up that we couldn't answer was how (and even whether) the soldiers were paid amid the chaos, especially if they were on the losing side. If you know the answer, please post in the comments. Read more...Thursday's Term to Learn - Stipendium (Stipend) originally appeared on About.com Ancient / Classical History on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 20:36:25.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians - "The Lightning Thief"

  4 Feb 2010 | 1:01 am

  Will you be watching the Percy Jackson movie when it opens on February 12, 2010? I hadn't heard much about it, other than that it was created by the makers of Harry Potter (a strong plus in my book) and that it had to do with the Greek gods. Watching the clip (linked to above), I see it features strong, capable actors Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean, and seems to use the Harry Potter formula with a difference. Instead of a British school of magic, there appears to be an American (U.S.?/Canadian?) school for demi-gods. Percy Jackson and the Olympians - "The Lightning Thief" originally appeared on…

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  About.com: Asian History

• Comparative Dragons

  6 Feb 2010 | 9:23 am

  Quite by chance, this morning I ran into a website that tells the following story: Chinese dragons have five or fewer claws. The Imperial dragon has five, other Chinese dragons have four, Japanese dragons three, and if a dragon were to move too far from China, it would not be able to walk because it would lose all of its claws. The dragon is the symbol of China's emperors, and of the male force or yang, so it's quite important in Chinese culture. According to the website, sly Korean rulers decided to have a seven-clawed dragon installed on the ceiling of Gyeongbukgong Palace in Seoul, in a…

• Two Books Expose Horrors of WWII in Asia

  3 Feb 2010 | 12:31 am

  The Second World War in the Pacific theater saw both Japan and the US use new scientific techniques as weapons against civilian populations. Two books - "A Plague upon Humanity: The Hidden History of Japan's Biological Warfare Program" by Daniel Barenblatt, and Charles Pellegrino's "Last Train from Hiroshima" - take readers in for a closer view. Barenblatt's work tells the story of Japan's biological/medical warfare and experimentation in China. The Japanese Army inflicted hideous abuses on Chinese civilians, including deliberately infecting villages with the bubonic plague and then…

• Seven-Figure Facelift for Chinese Buddha Image

  31 Jan 2010 | 3:20 pm

  A giant cliff-side Buddha image near the Chinese city of Taiyuan, Shanxi Province - reputed to be China's oldest such Buddha - could fall to pieces.The Mengshan Buddha was rediscovered just five years ago, but it is more than 1,400 years old. It was built during the Northern Qi era, 550-577 CE. Today, however, the image's body is severely cracked, and needs repair work estimated at nearly $11 million US.The danger of collapse is so serious that the government has even closed seven nearby coal mines.Seven-Figure Facelift for Chinese Buddha Image originally appeared on About.com Asian History…

• "Jodhaa Akbar" - Fun, But How Factual?

  31 Jan 2010 | 3:08 pm

  One of the most famous emperors in the long history of India was Akbar the Great, the third ruler of the Mughal Dynasty. His life, and particularly his first marriage, are the subject of a 2008 Bollywood epic called "Jodhaa Akbar." The movie is really fun and entertaining, with a refreshing shortage of random song-and-dance numbers. (The few songs sprinkled throughout the 3 1/2 hour-long show fit into the plot, for the most part.) Historically-minded viewers may wonder, however - how historically accurate is it? Unfortunately, as it turns out, we know almost nothing about any of Akbar's…

• Today in Asian History: Mohandas Gandhi Assassinated

  29 Jan 2010 | 11:54 pm

  On January 30, 1948, the Mahatma Gandhi was murdered by a Hindu radical named Nathuram Godse. Gandhi had dedicated his life to peaceful resistance against the British colonial government in India - the Raj. His death came three months after India and Pakistan declared their independence. At the time of his assassination, Gandhi was trying to quell sectarian violence between Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims in the newly independent states of the Indian Subcontinent. Photo from the British Government archives. Today in Asian History: Mohandas Gandhi Assassinated originally appeared on About.com Asian…

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  Toptenz

• Top 10 Karaoke Songs

  TopTenz Master

  9 Feb 2010 | 5:55 am

  Everybody loves karaoke! Whether or not you need an alcoholic beverage first, or already have your song picked in the car. Singing karaoke is as natural as leaving cookies out for Santa Claus. Although first invented in Japan, it didn’t take long for the entire world to catch on. Maybe it’s because deep down everyone [...]

• 10 Remarkable & Unusual College Degrees

  TopTenz Master

  8 Feb 2010 | 5:55 am

  While  almost everyone agrees that earning a degree is very important for both economic and personal success, there is a lot of debate over which degrees are the best. And often the the least popular degrees can be the most rewarding, again, both economically and personally. Students are lined up to get the popular MBA degree, [...]

• Top 10 Villanous Rulers

  Loni Perry

  5 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  Throughout the history of mankind there have been some rulers that use fear and terror to gain control of their people. They rule with an iron fist and an unrelenting thirst for power and recognition. Unfortunately for society there was too many for them all to fit on the list, so here’s the worst of [...]

• Top 10 Reasons The World Won’t End on December 21, 2012

  TopTenz Master

  4 Feb 2010 | 5:55 am

  No doubt about it, 2012 and doomsday prophecies are big nowadays. According to the Mayan calendar, the world as we know it will end sometime around December 21st, 2012. Of course, if it doesn’t, that won’t mean we’ll be out of the woods. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ may return at any moment to [...]

• Top 10 Websites Useful For 1 Minute

  TopTenz Master

  3 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

  If you need absolutely anything, the Internet is ready to serve you. Alas, websites these days have grown so overly complex, it’s easy to forget the smaller, useful websites that serve their purpose quickly and let you get on with your life in less than a minute. Heck, some websites are so useful you may [...]

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  1776

• New History Books - February 2010

  Theodore Scott

  8 Feb 2010 | 6:44 pm

  Libby Prison Breakout: The Daring Escape from the Notorious Civil War Prison By Joseph Wheelan (View on Amazon) As If an Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution By Richard Archer (View on Amazon) American Cicero: The Life of Charles Carroll By Bradley J. Birzer (View on Amazon) To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West By Mark Lee Gardner (View on Amazon) Related posts:New History Books - January 2010 January new book releases in United States history....New History Books - February 2009…

• Book Review: As If An Enemy’s Country

  Theodore Scott

  6 Feb 2010 | 10:19 pm

  As If an Enemy’s Country: The British Occupation of Boston and the Origins of Revolution By Richard Archer In this book, Richard Archer tells the story of the armed occupation of Boston by the British. After resistance to the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts, Britain sent ships of soldiers to Boston to maintain order. From 1768 to 1770, the British occupation had Bostonians and Britains and each other’s throats. This occupation created the rebellious sentiment that fueled a revolution. The story follows reactions of political leaders and the general public. The…

• New History Books - January 2010

  Theodore Scott

  3 Jan 2010 | 10:14 pm

  The Two Hendricks: Unraveling a Mohawk Mystery By Eric Hinderaker (View on Amazon) The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations By Ira Berlin (View on Amazon) Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation By Charles Glass (View on Amazon) Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State By Garry Wills (View on Amazon) Related posts:New History Books - February 2010 February new book releases in United States history....New History Books - May 2009 May new book releases in United States history....New History Books - December 2009 December new book…

• Book Review: Dominion From Sea To Sea

  Theodore Scott

  23 Dec 2009 | 9:28 pm

  Dominion from Sea to Sea: Pacific Ascendancy and American Power By Bruce Cumings The history of the United States is often told with a focus on the Atlantic and America’s interaction with Europe. Bruce Cumings takes another approach. He chronicles our drive westward, and goes beyond our western states, to Asia and the Philippines. This westward expansion drove America. Cities rising in the west created a two-ocean economy - taking us from a European perspective to involvement with East Asia. Our global influence grew, and you can see the effects of our ascendancy in Hong Kong and…

• The Malmedy Massacre, December 17, 1944

  Theodore Scott

  16 Dec 2009 | 11:23 pm

  Note: This article is an excerpt from The World’s Bloodiest History: Massacre, Genocide, and the Scars They Left on Civilization by Joseph Cummins (by permission, Fair Winds Press ©2009). The Belgian farmer, whose name was Henri Lejoly, was surprised at the nonchalance of the U.S. troops. Standing in the barren field outside of the town of Malmedy on that cold early afternoon in the winter of 1944, they smoked and joked with each other. Some of them had placed their hands on their helmets in a casual token of surrender to the Waffen-SS troops of Kampfgruppe Peiper—the mechanized task…

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  Wig-Wags

• Should any Historical Society be Without a RSS Feed?

  Rene Tyree

  31 Jan 2010 | 11:52 am

  I moved most of my historical society links over to Wig-Wags.com today from my old blog site. You’ll find them in the right nav bar of Wig-Wags.com by following down the page a bit. I’m using a new widget, WP Social Blogroll, that pulls RSS feeds for any link I add by checking for a feed via Google Feed Discovery. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that very few of the 50 – some state historical societies have RSS feeds. I realize many history societies are managed by volunteers but believe they are missing some great opportunities for exposure. Ahem… If you would…

• New Acquisition: Conrad Wise Chapman: Artist & Soldier of the Confederacy

  Rene Tyree

  29 Jan 2010 | 8:23 pm

  Fascinated by all that drove public opinion during the nineteenth century, I recently acquired an excellent book: Conrad Wise Chapman: Artist  Soldier of the Confederacy (The Kent State University Press, 1998) Author Ben L. Bassham’s biography includes many of the works of both Conrad Wise and his father, artist John Gadsby Chapman. This book, while an excellent one, is not heavy on the Civil War experience of Conrad Wise Chapman. For that, I recommend Ten Months in the “Orphan Brigade” : Conrad Wise Chapman’s Civil War Memoir (The Kent State University Press, 1999) also brought…

• Death and Injury on the Battlefield Part 2

  Rene Tyree

  26 Jan 2010 | 10:21 pm

  Continuing from the post Death and Injury on the Battlefield Part I here, this post deals with battlefield injuries. Confederate Wounded at Smith’s Barn with Dr Anson Hurd 14th Indiana Volunteers in Attendance after the Battle of Antietam – Near Keedysville, MD, September 1862 Those who were injured on the battlefield first had to either remove themselves or hope they would be helped to a field hospital, usually a tent, house, barn or shed marked by a red flag and located as close to the line of battle as possible.[i] There they might find a surgeon and one assistant surgeon, although…

• Book Review: Partners in Command: The Relationships Between Leaders in the Civil War

  Rene Tyree

  25 Jan 2010 | 6:05 pm

  JOSEPH T. GLATTHAAR. Partners In Command: The Relationships Between Leaders in the Civil War New York: The Free Press . 1994. Pp. xi, 286. $16.95. Warriors are at their core human beings who succeed or fail in their endeavors in some part because of the their ability to relate with others, whether peers, subordinates, or superiors. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the interplay between commanders during war. The forging of successful working relationships is foundational to success on the battlefield and signal compatibility on some level between the personalities or natures of…

• The American Civil War Experience: Death and Injury on the Battlefield – 1

  Rene Tyree

  23 Jan 2010 | 7:21 pm

  I previously posted a piece on the impact of disease on soldiers in the Civil War [see "The American Civil War Experience: Lice, Disease and Quinine" ]. The following discusses the other side of death during the war, the experience on the battlefield. Please be aware the the following is very graphic. One of Ewell’s Corps as he lay on the field, after the battle of the 19th May, 1864. Battle injuries in the civil war were horrific and many led to death. The journals of soldiers and photographs of the dead tell of injury and death caused by cannon balls, grapeshot, canister, musket balls,…