All articles tagged with #history
Israel’s Heritage Ministry says the Altalena ship, tied to the 1948 Altalena affair, has been found intact on the Mediterranean seabed about 503 meters deep and 20 kilometers off the coast, 78 years after sinking, reviving a pivotal moment in the country’s early history and memory.
Columbia House, the 71-year-old mail-order media club that began as CBS/Columbia Record Club in 1955, says it will stop accepting new orders after September 15, 2026, effectively ending its run while still fulfilling existing orders; after a long history of ownership changes and a pivot from music to DVDs and Blu-rays, the club declined as online retailers and big-box stores reshaped the market.
Archaeologists studying Skeleton 150 buried beneath Stirling Castle’s chapel identify him as the only known trebuchet casualty in history: a Scottish defender killed by a heavy, fast-moving projectile during the 1304 siege, with injuries so extensive that forensic analysis rules out other causes and highlights the brutal physics of siege engines.
CNN argues that today’s wellness boom echoes the Middle Ages, with bloodletting, cupping and purges resurfacing alongside energy healing and influencer‑driven cures, driven by distrust in public health after Covid; while some medieval ideas—such as humors or urinalysis—had observational roots, they were superseded by modern science. The piece contrasts Europe’s trust crisis with the Islamic world’s public‑health policies, and it concludes the similarities are superficial: today’s trends reflect social distrust rather than a true regression of medicine, even as people seek simple explanations amid information overload.
Berlin’s plan to build apartments over Adolf Hitler’s bunker has reignited debate on how Germany should address its Nazi past, with preservationists urging recognition of the site’s historical significance while the bunker remains unprotected amid a housing shortage.
Two metal detectorists near Carlisle uncovered three Bronze Age gold torcs dating to around 1100 BC, weighing a combined 18.27 ounces and valued at about $400,000. The torcs are being assessed by the British Museum to determine treasure status, with a coroner deciding if they qualify as treasure; if declared treasure, they could be bought at market value with proceeds shared among the finders and the landowner, otherwise they may be returned to the finders for auction. The discovery came after hours of digging and has been described as a once-in-a-lifetime find by the detectorists.
In 1851, Berkowski captured the first successful photo of a total solar eclipse with a daguerreotype, fixing the solar corona for objective study and transforming solar astronomy. The article then previews the Aug. 12, 2026 eclipse, noting that modern digital gear allows better images and offering practical tips—site choice along the totality, solar filters for any partial phases, exposed-bracketed shots, and removing filters only at totality to reveal the corona—highlighting how eclipse photography has evolved from 19th‑century plates to today’s sensors.
Two ornate trumpets from Tutankhamun’s tomb—one silver, one bronze—were famously blown during a 1939 BBC broadcast, creating a rare sonic link between ancient Egypt and the modern world. Today they reside in climate-controlled displays at the Grand Egyptian Museum, with stringent security and conservation measures that make future performances unlikely, highlighting the delicate balance between preservation and public access.
The In Pursuit 250th-anniversary project brings essays from historians and leaders like George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton about past presidents and first ladies (covering 43 presidents and 30 first ladies, excluding Biden and Trump for now); curated by Colleen Shogan of the National Archives, the nonpartisan series aims to teach lessons from 250 years of U.S. history and will publish weekly through December, with a PBS documentary planned and strong Substack engagement.
Wesley Liu reviews the rediscovered memoir Hiroshima, 8:15: The Lost Memoir, which shifts the focus from the bombing itself to Hiroshima’s weeks and months of rebuilding and the broader work of memory that followed, offering a nuanced view of postwar Japan beyond simple surrender narratives.
Harvard researchers, led by archaeologist Michael McCormick, argue 536 CE may be the worst year in history: a dust cloud from volcanic eruptions blocked sunlight for 18 months, plunging much of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia into darkness, causing global cooling and famine, with later eruptions in 540 and 547 deepening the crisis and the Byzantine Empire suffering amid plague and economic strain.
In 1973, the Concorde 001 prototype flew at Mach 2+ to chase the Moon’s shadow across Africa, carrying a multinational team and four ceiling portholes to study the Sun’s corona at multiple wavelengths. The mission achieved a record 74 minutes of totality imaging—the longest ever from an aircraft—before headwinds shortened the window. Led by Pierre Léna, scientists from France, the UK, and the US conducted infrared, dust, gas, and chromosphere observations, following two rehearsal flights with a precise ground-less rendezvous, and landing in N’Djamena after the eclipse to cap a historic feat in solar astronomy.
The piece traces root beer’s origins to colonial-era ferments using sassafras, notes safrole’s carcinogenic risk led to its ban in the 1960s and the use of safrole-free extracts in modern versions, and explores the root beer float’s uncertain birth—with myths about inventor Frank J. Wisner likely unfounded and the more plausible rise at early chains like A&W around 1919—before the drink became a mid‑century staple and then faded with younger palates. It also highlights lingering nostalgia, generational taste differences (younger people favor other fizzy drinks), and National Root Beer Float Day promotions by A&W.
A Texas-based historian claims the Smithsonian has shifted from educating the public about history to promoting activism, saying exhibits omit context and direct visitors toward political action, a view highlighted by congressional scrutiny; Smithsonian officials counter that their mission remains balanced and scholarly, though critics call for broader changes.
A retrospective highlighting ten landmark music videos—Video Killed the Radio Star, Whip It, 1999, Rio, Billie Jean, Two Tribes, Like a Virgin, Take on Me, Money for Nothing, and Sledgehammer—that helped MTV reshape how we see music, image, and pop culture in the 1980s and beyond.