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Sunday, April 13, 2014

War Veteran

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The great survivor: First World War veteran's name appears on Cardiff memorial for the fallen even though he survived the Great War... and the Second World War

War memorial in Grange Gardens Cardiff where the name of A. Norman appears as one of the remembered
A Cardiff hero whose name appears on a monument to the fallen of the First World War actually survived the conflict.

Falklands War

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Revealed: How Pope John Paul II sent secret envoy to Margaret Thatcher during Falklands War to ask Britain to abandon islands

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused the Pope's compromise, saying that there were worse things than war, including 'the extinction of all that one believed in'
A secret memo released after 32 years shows that Pope John Paul II tried to persuade Margaret Thatcher to 'compromise' with the Argentinians over the Falklands.

mammoth born 42,000 years ago

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World's most complete mammoth born 42,000 years ago and found by Siberian reindeer herder to go on display at National History Museum

It was found by Siberia's Yuribei river, several mammoth remains have been unearthed in the area
The baby mammoth, discovered in Siberia in 2007, will be the centrepiece of a special three-month exhibition at the London museum. It will be the first time is has been shown in Western Europe. The female mammoth is a little larger than a dog and is thought to have died 42,000 years ago. Experts believe that its body was buried in wet clay and mud which then froze, preserving it until she was found by reindeer herder Yuri Khudi and his sons while they were searching for firewood along the banks of the Yuribei river

Howard Hughes

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CIA and Howard Hughes's plan to steal a submarine revealed in recently declassified documents

ca. 1927 --- Producer Howard Hughes --- Image by © John Springer Collection/CORBIS
Newly declassified documents reveal new information about the CIA's Project Azorian - a plan hatched to secretly salvage a Soviet nuclear submarine.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Eerie scenes of the abandoned

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No man's land: Eerie scenes of abandoned airport, empty buildings and streets criss-crossed with barbed wire in Cypriot region where nobody has been since the 1970s

Abandoned: The UN buffer zone in Cyprus was established after the Turkish invasion of 1974
These images show the decay which has eaten away at the parts of Cyprus swallowed by the UN's buffer zone in the wake of Turkey's invasion of the north of the island in 1974. Nicosia International Airport (top left and right) stands rusting and rotting - and has not seen a commercial flight since 1977. Meanwhile parts of the city of Nicosia itself (bottom right) are fortified while intimidating signs (centre) warn any trespassers of daring to stray into the protected area.

The Quiet One: 1948 documentary

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a day in history, 14th March

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On a day in history, 14th March...
1471 - Death of Sir Thomas Malory, known for his work "Le Morte d'Arthur", which he wrote in prison. He was laid to rest in St Francis's Chapel, Greyfriars, Newgate. Seehttp://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/englit/malory/ for more on Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur".
1540 - Death of Sir John Port, judge. He is known for mumbling in 1535 in Lord Dacre's case and being counted on the wrong side, giving the Crown a majority. He was taken ill at Worcester during the Lent assize and died at Bewdley.
1553 – Death of Arthur Bulkeley, Bishop of Bangor, at his home in Bangor. He was buried in the cathedral choir.
1555 - Death of Sir John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, courtier, envoy and landowner, at his home on the Strand in London. Russell served Henry VIII as Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal, following the fall of Thomas Cromwell. He was an executor of Henry VIII's will, and carried on as Lord Privy Seal in the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I.

1960 Aviation Collision in Brooklyn

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On December 16, 1960, two airliners collided above New York City, the United Airlines plane crashed in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. See more from this tragic day:
http://ti.me/1qAK8kM

(Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Bronze Age Copper Trade on Glyph?

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Could this glyph of a Sailing Boat give a description of the copper trade between North America and Egypt during the Bronze Age?

According to the Ancient Artifact Preservation Society, it just might.

Check out the analysis of the petroglyph here:
Article: http://goo.gl/EMbcA2

www.AncientExplorers.com

happy girls by the sea 1930s

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Happy girls by the sea. 1930s.





White Day

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On Friday, Japan, South Korea and other East Asian countries celebrate White Day, a day when men return Valentine favors to women. Unlike in Western cultures where couples exchange their mutual love on Valentine's Day, in these countries the holiday is considered a day for women to show their love and appreciation for men by handing out chocolates and small gifts. In return, men are expected to return the favor a month later on March 14.

White Day has its origin in late 1970s Japan when a local confectionery company in Southern Japan started to market the idea with marshmallows, calling it Marshmallow Day. Now, the day is widely celebrated across East Asia, with gifts varying from candies and flowers, to more expensive fancy dinners and jewelry.

To view more photos and videos from White Day celebrations, check out the Instagram blog:
http://blog.instagram.com/post/79541827983/whiteday2014

Photo by @dedely
http://instagram.com/p/lbOGGOMCG5/

Colin Powell's Vintage Selfie

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The former secretary of state and decorated general told Ellen DeGeneres to eat her heart out with a self portrait he took 60 years ago.

Collectors Weekly on Government-Surplus Machines

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The Government-Surplus Machines That Power a Cutting-Edge Science Museum

http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/government-surplus-machines-power-science-museum/

Jackie O: The Manhattan Years

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From jogging in Central Park to attending galas at The Met, Jackie O never failed to impress.

Photo held by dying WWI soldier returned to wife by German who killed him

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Even in a horrible war, amazing things happen ...

Doris Eaton

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The actress Doris Eaton (1904–2010) was the longest living Ziegfeld Follies girl. 
She was 106 years old when she passed away in 2010.

Weird Historical Photos

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Friday, April 11, 2014

Ossian Sweet

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The Pity of War

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'Flashy, lopsided, inconsequentially contrarian'. Paul Lay is unimpressed by a BBC programme on the First World War.

The 1994 Loughinisland Massacre

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A survivor’s tale: The 1994 Loughinisland massacre
In the summer of 1998, I took my new baby girl home to my lovely, tragic Northern Ireland. It was my mother’s sixtieth birthday, and between my...

Flashback

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In 1947, William Wyler's "The Best Years of Our Lives" won six Academy Awards including best film, director, actor for Fredric March and supporting actor for double amputee Harold Russell, who also received an honorary Oscar. Jack Benny hosted the ceremony from the Shrine Auditorium. 
A complete list from Oscars.org

Chinese in the Southern Ocean

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For more than a millennia, millions of Chinese have come to the region they called the Southern Ocean – modern Southeast Asia. They came to find refuge, to escape poverty, persecution and starvation. They came too as explorers and diplomats. Many were drawn to a little red dot close to the equator – the island of Singapore. Here in just two centuries they forged a new identity and helped build a new nation.

And check out web exclusives at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/footprints/?cid=FBFP

Tthe Second World War

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A slide show of Yevgeny Khaldei’s photographs, which embody a crucial perspective on the Second World War: http://nyr.kr/1i86k13

Vintage

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What’s Past is Prologue: Vintage Photography's photo.

searched for husband for 68 years

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Woman finds her husband after 68 years and learns he is being celebrated in France [Alex]

Moses

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Harriet Tubman died in 1913. Known as Moses to the more than 300 slaves she helped find freedom, Tubman was a fighter for abolition and women’s suffrage.

Frederick Douglass often worked with her and admired her, writing, “The difference between us is very marked. Most that I have done and suffered in the service of our cause has been in public, and I have received much encouragement at every step of the way. You, on the other hand, have labored in a private way. I have wrought in the day—you in the night. … The midnight sky and the silent stars have been the witnesses of your devotion to freedom and of your heroism.”

(Digital restoration by Lise Broer)

last will and testament of Baron Paul von Hindenburg

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Could WWII have been avoided? How secret will of former German president Paul von Hindenburg may have knocked Hitler off course

Could WWII have been avoided? How secret will of former German president Paul von Hindenburg may have knocked Adolf Hitler off course
The last will and testament of Baron Paul von Hindenburg, Germany's president until his death in 1934, rejected Adolf Hitler's claim to the Reichstag and urged the nation to embrace democracy.

Elizabeth Bedlington

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British ballerina was a spy who worked for the Germans, moving classified documents around Spain where she performed during the First World War


  • Elizabeth Bedlington performed across Spain under the name La Titanesca
  • She is said to have routinely delivered secret documents to German forces
  • Turned traitor after being recruited by her Austro-Hungarian husband 
  • She was identified by the Allies as a spy but lived out her days in Spain
  • One of dozens of women who spied for the Germans during WWI

A British ballet dancer who performed in neutral Spain during World War One was a spy feeding classified information to the Germans, a new book has revealed.

Elizabeth Bedlington is said to have delivered secret documents to German forces as she travelled across Spain performing under the name La Titanesca.

In his new book, Spanish historian Fernando García Sanz tells how Bedlington turned traitor after being recruited by her Austro-Hungarian husband Gunter Hopf.

Traitor: British ballerina Elizabeth Bedlington, who performed in Spain under the name La Titanesca during World War One, was a spy working for the Germans, according to a new book
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Traitor: British ballerina Elizabeth Bedlington, who performed in Spain under the name La Titanesca during World War One, was a spy working for the Germans, according to a new book

Bedlington was later identified as a 'mule' by allied forces, but managed to escape arrest, and remained in Spain until her death, according to a report in the Times newspaper.  
According to the book, the Italian secret service identified her as a 'mule', and she was barred from travelling to the country.
    Originally from London, Bedlington is described as a Mata Hari-type figure, referring to the Dutch courtesan who was executed by French troops for feeding information to the Germans.
    García Sanz's 426-page book, entitled España en la Gran Guerra (Spain in the Great War), is due out next week and tells of numerous female spies working for the Germans.
    They include Pilar Millán Astray, the sister of the founder of Spain's military Legion, who went on to become a famous Spanish novelist.
    German troops are pictured in a trench on in Marne, France. Bedlington is said to have delivered classified documents to German forces as she travelled across Spain
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    German troops are pictured in a trench on in Marne, France. Bedlington is said to have delivered classified documents to German forces as she travelled across Spain

    Comparison: Bedlington is described as a Mata Hari-type figure, referring to the famous Dutch courtesan was executed by French forces for spying for the Germans
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    Comparison: Bedlington is described as a Mata Hari-type figure, referring to the famous Dutch courtesan was executed by French forces for spying for the Germans

    She reportedly stole documents from the UK Ambassador to Spain before handing them over to the Germans in 1917.
    Referring to Spain's role in the war, García Sanz, described the country as a spying ground for both sides.
    He told Spanish daily El País: 'Mata Hari was no-one compared to other female spies who were so good that even to this day they haven't been identified'.