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It Might Be the Dullest Olympic Sport Ever

The BBC remembers the 'plunge for distance' in swimming

(Newser) - Speed, athletic prowess, and grit are all markers of Olympic competitions, inspiring the world to watch as the best compete for the gold. But the BBC digs up a chestnut from the days of yore that's been called the "lamest, weirdest, and most boring Olympic sport of all...

Math Historian Saw Decimals in 1440s Treatise and Freaked Out

Glen Van Brummelen uncovers earliest known use of decimal to indicate base-10 number system

(Newser) - How old is the decimal? It's a question you've probably never pondered but one that has fascinated certain historians. Fascinated isn't overstating it. When Glen Van Brummelen, a historian of mathematics at Canada's Trinity Western University, spotted a decimal used to indicate tenths of a number...

Revolutionary War Project Needs 'Citizen Archivists'

NPS needs volunteers to pore over old pension records of our 'first veterans'

(Newser) - For Americans who love exploring historic documents, it's a call to arms: The National Archives has joined with the National Park Service in asking the public to help reveal previously unknown stories from the Revolutionary War. Per CNN , it's called the Revolutionary War Pension Files Transcription Project...

Historians Get Rare, Uncensored Peek at Elizabeth I

British Library uses imaging technology to uncover pages of old account of her reign

(Newser) - As Elizabeth I lay on her deathbed in 1603, she chose King James VI of Scotland to succeed her on the British throne. Or at least that has been the long-accepted version of history recorded in the first official account of her reign, William Camden's Annals. Now, however, some...

15th-Century Minstrel Served Up a 'Comedy Feast'
Ancient Manuscript Offers Rare
Glimpse of Minstrel Show
in case you missed it
Jun 11, 2023 10:45 AM CDT

Ancient Manuscript Offers Rare Glimpse of Minstrel Show

15th-century document might be the first known look at the entertainment

(Newser) - A preacher gives a sermon on the virtues of heavy drinking. A group of kings feast until their stomachs burst and out come two dozen murderous oxen. Such is the stuff of medieval comedy shows, revealed through the pages of a rare, 15th-century manuscript held in the National Library of...

Woodworker Finds UK's Oldest Piece of Carved Wood

Derek Fawcett's discovery was found to be at least 6K years old

(Newser) - In 2019, retired British surgeon Derek Fawcett was having a workshop built, planning to indulge in his new retirement hobby of wood-turning. As the Guardian reports, an unexpected discovery catapulted him into the world of archaeology. Workers found a blackened chunk of wood that, upon closer inspection, was revealed to...

Buckingham Palace Will Not Repatriate Prince's Remains

Captured Ethiopian Prince Alemayehu died in 1879

(Newser) - Buckingham Palace has declined requests to repatriate the remains of Prince Dejatch Alemayehu of Abyssinia, the region now largely made up of Ethiopia. NBC News reports the prince was forcibly taken from his homeland at the age of six in 1868, after British forces defeated his father, Emperor Tewodros II,...

First-Ever Full 3D Scan of Titanic Reveals New Details

Researchers mapped the shipwreck with remote-controlled submersibles

(Newser) - Deep-sea researchers have completed the first full-size digital scan of the Titanic, showing the entire wreck in unprecedented detail and clarity, the companies behind a new documentary on the wreck said Thursday. The AP reports that using two remotely operated submersibles, a team of researchers spent six weeks last summer...

Vesuvius' Eruption Didn't Kill Newly Found Bodies in Pompeii

Archeologists speculate the men were killed during quakes accompanying the eruption

(Newser) - A pair of newly discovered skeletons dating from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius 2,000 years ago are adding to the tragic story of the destruction of Pompeii, which wasn't inflicted solely by the eruption, reports USA Today. In a statement , Pompeii archaeological park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel writes that...

King's Secret Code Is Broken 500 Years Later
King's Secret Code Is
Broken 500 Years Later
in case you missed it
Nov 27, 2022 11:25 AM CST

King's Secret Code Is Broken 500 Years Later

Letter reveals Charles V's fears of French assassination plot

(Newser) - For the first time, researchers are reading about a rumored French plot to assassinate King Charles V of Spain in his own words—or symbols, rather. The information was only revealed after six months of "painstaking" work by codebreakers, per AFP . It's no secret that Charles V and...

Man's Claim of Finding Unseen Massacre Photos in Doubt

30 photos left at pawn shop in Minnesota may or may not depict the Rape of Nanjing

(Newser) - Evan Kail, owner of the St. Louis Park Gold and Silver shop in Minnesota, is known as the "Pawn Man" on TikTok, where he shares videos of some of the unique items that arrive in his shop. But he would only show part of a photo album that arrived...

Starting at 7, Russians to Learn 'Patriotic History'

Students will be taught their country didn't mistreat Ukraine

(Newser) - After being accused of committing atrocities in Ukraine , and facing global opposition for its invasion, Russia is taking a step to control the narrative among its people early. The Education Ministry has announced the starting age for compulsory history lessons in its schools will be 7, down from 10. It'...

Science Solves Mystery in Marie Antoinette Love Letter

Imaging technology reveals words the recipient scribbled over

(Newser) - “Not without you.” “My dear friend.” “You that I love." Marie Antoinette sent these expressions of affection—or more?—in letters to her close friend and rumored lover Axel von Fersen. Someone later used dark ink to scribble over the words, apparently to dampen...

7 Years Historians Say Were Worse Than 2020
7 Years Historians Say
Were Worse Than 2020
in case you missed it
Jan 3, 2021 6:30 PM CST

7 Years Historians Say Were Worse Than 2020

The US has seen plenty of bad times

(Newser) - You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who'd say 2020 was great, but a group of 28 historians says there have been other years in US history that were even worse than this one, CBS News reports. In a survey conducted by self-help therapy app company Bloom, the academics...

Utah Senator Blocks National Latino Museum

And one for women, with Mike Lee saying we don't need 'separate but equal' Smithsonian museums

(Newser) - For more than 25 years, there's been an effort to establish a national Latino museum within the Smithsonian Institution's museum family. And that dream seemed closer to coming to fruition this week, with bipartisan legislation toward that end on the Senate table. Enter Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who...

New Research Takes 'Odious' View of History

The Odeuropa project gives European history a good whiff

(Newser) - Ever said, "Oh, that smells nasty?" Then you were part of history. Case in point: A team of scientists and historians is embarking on a plan to catalogue the smells of Europe over time and see what they say about society, the New York Times reports. The new $3....

Behind Famous Execution, 'It's Henry Pulling the Strings'
Henry VIII Laid Out Details
of Famous Execution
in case you missed it
Oct 31, 2020 7:00 AM CDT

Henry VIII Laid Out Details of Famous Execution

Tudor document shows the king's instructions on the fate of Anne Boleyn

(Newser) - A passage in a 16th-century record book is getting fresh attention as it shows that King Henry VIII planned Anne Boleyn's execution to the letter. "For years, his trusty adviser Thomas Cromwell has got the blame. But this shows, actually, it's Henry pulling the strings," Tudor...

She Made Film History. So Why Is She Mostly Unknown?

A new documentary revives the career of Alice Guy-Blaché

(Newser) - Heard of Alice Guy-Blaché? Don't worry, you're not alone. That's why there's a new documentary about the pre-World War I film pioneer, the Smithsonian reports. Born in 1873, Guy-Blaché directed hundreds of movies and was among the first to use synchronized sound, close-ups, and hand-tinted...

History Is Tainted by 'National Narcissism'
History Is Tainted by
'National Narcissism'
NEW STUDY
Aug 20, 2019 10:15 AM CDT

History Is Tainted by 'National Narcissism'

Russians, Brits, Americans all claim more than 50% of effort in WWII

(Newser) - We may be deceiving ourselves in teaching history born from "national narcissism," per a new study . "People are highly ethnocentric in viewing their own nation's influence, even in remembering the (nominally) same event: World War II," say researchers from Washington University in St. Louis. They...

For World-Famous Banking Family, an Era Is Over

The Rothschilds sell off historic estate in Austria

(Newser) - Good on your 19th and 20th-century history? Then you'll appreciate that this marks the end of an era, Bloomberg reports. The Rothschild family, once the Habsburg empire's main financier, is selling its last piece of property in Austria. Family heir Bettina Burr has approved the sale of two...

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