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History / World History

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October Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

King Ananda Mahidol of Siam in 1939

Long Live the King

A gunshot rang out in the king’s bedroom in June 1946, ending one reign and beginning another. Uncertainty over how it happened has persisted ever since

Art from the 1950s envisioned a future with robots. Are we there yet?

I Have Seen the [retro]Future

One of Dahomeys' women warriors, with a musket, club, dagger—and her enemy's severed head.

Dahomey’s Women Warriors

The Great White Fleet of the United States Navy, 1907 -- We need a fleet of spacecraft to open “This New Ocean” of space

Let’s Argue About The Right Things

We seem to be in one of those periods in which basic reasons for doing what we do as a nation are called into question

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September Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Historypin is a website that allows users to "pin" old photographs, video or audio clips to Google Maps at the very locations they were snapped and recorded. Shown here is the Wisconsin State Capitol from 1939.

Q & A with Nick Stanhope, Creator of Historypin

By merging old photographs with new mapping technology, this site fuses new connections between the generations

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One Man Against Tyranny

Charles Steinmetz, circa 1915

Charles Proteus Steinmetz, the Wizard of Schenectady

His contributions to mathematics and electrical engineering made him one of the most beloved and instantly recognizable men of his time.

Left: Lisa and Minter Dial, on their way to the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. Right: Minter's ring

Minter’s Ring: The Story of One World War II POW

When excavators in Inchon, Korea discovered a U.S. naval officer’s ring, they had no knowledge of the pain associated with its former owner, Minter Dial

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This Month in History

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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Introducing New History Blog: Past Imperfect

Three historians bring their expertise together to provide history with all the interesting bits left in

Murray Hall at the ballot box

The Mystery of Murray Hall

Hall realized his death would set off a national political scandal, inspiring the genuine wonder that he had never been what he seemed

Kersey in 1957. Although Jack Merriott's watercolor presents an idealized image of the village – it was commissioned for use in a railway advertising campaign – it does give an idea of just how 'old' Kersey must have looked to strangers in the year it became central to a 'timeslip' case.

When Three British Boys Traveled to Medieval England (Or Did They?)

A 1957 “time traveler” recalls “a feeling of unfriendliness and unseen watchers which sent shivers up one’s back”

Mike Tyson's tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Entertainment this spring, claiming that the use of his design in the movie The Hangover Part II was copyright infringement.

Ten Famous Intellectual Property Disputes

From Barbie to cereal to a tattoo, a copyright lawsuit can get contentious; some have even reached the Supreme Court

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June Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

A circa 1925 woodcut by Unpo Takashima depicts Tokyo's Ueno district ablaze. "Each new gust of wind," reported Joseph Dahlmann, a Jesuit priest who witnessed the calamity from a hilltop, "gave new impulse to the fury of the conflagration."

The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923

The powerful quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Yokohama and Tokyo traumatized a nation and unleashed historic consequences

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May 2011 Anniversaries

May 2011 Anniversaries

Yuri Gagarin

April 2011 Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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