History is the source code of the future

Canadian government planned to arrest, intern peace activists

Historian uncovers secret prison camp:

The federal government had detailed lists of political activists and subversives it planned to arrest in the aftermath of a nuclear war or other national emergency, keeping such plans on the books until at least the early 1980s, according to new records obtained by an Ottawa historian.

Anywhere from 700 to 2,500 people, including babies, would have been held in internment camps before being shipped off to more permanent detention facilities.

Cold War historian John Clearwater obtained the records through the Access to Information Act while researching his book, Just Dummies: Cruise Missile Testing in Canada, which is being released today.

Clearwater said the federal government was shaken by the widespread opposition to cruise missile testing.

Although he knew the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service kept close tabs on peace groups during that period, Clearwater said he was surprised by the extent of the government's plans during the Cold War to round up citizens it saw as subversive.

Even level-headed countries like Canada can get carried away in their reaction to internal critics. The headline is wrong--no camp was operating, they were just planned. And the list of names was drawn up.

Technorati Tags: civil liberties, dissent, history, Canada

Dermatoglyphic study: Da Vinci Fingerprint Reveals Arab Heritage?

Discovery Channel :: News :: Da Vinci Fingerprint Reveals Arab Heritage?:

Leonardo da Vinci may have had an Arab heritage, according to Italian researchers who have isolated and reconstructed the Renaissance master's fingerprint.

The fingerprint represents the only biological trace of the Florentine genius, said Luigi Capasso, an anthropologist at Chieti University.

"It is actually the first evidence of Leonardo's corporeality," Capasso told Discovery News.

Indeed, nothing is left of the painter, engineer, mathematician, philosopher and naturalist. The remains of Leonardo, who died in 1519 in Amboise, France, were dispersed in the 16th century during religious wars.

Son of an Arab slave, father of modern Europe.

Technorati Tags: history, Middle East, Da Vinci

Medal of Honor: Conflict as play

Niall Ferguson: What's wrong with the computerized war games kids play:

In fairness, games like Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and Soldiers have taught my sons an amazing amount about World War II hardware. But at root, they’re just playing Space Invaders—make that Beach Invaders—with fancy graphics.

A historian's take on the irreality of war in video games and the low perceived cost of conflict it encourages people to embrace. War is not about killing the most people, but the game is.

Technorati Tags: history, war

Rep. Don Rumsfeld on Vietnam

Unpopular Historian: O, the Irony!:

This is what a Republican congressman had to say about the war:

"Recognizing the difficulties, the fact remains that lacking success in meeting the economic, social, and political problems, the US effort, with thousands dead and billions spent and precious time lost, could be completely wasted."

If you go read the entire excerpt, you will learn how completely Mr. Rumsfeld has failed to learn from history.

Technorati Tags: accountability, history, Iraq, Vietnam

Hungary awakens, beaten down only to rise again

The Shadow of a Smile - New York Times:

THE first time I saw deep joy on my father’s face — the kind that comes from within and which is a child’s most reassuring signal from a parent — was on Oct. 23, 1956. It was at Bem Square, on the right bank of the Danube, where thousands of students, a sprinkling of workers and even some young soldiers still in uniform had spontaneously gathered to hear the students’ list of demands for reform by Hungary’s Communist government.

I was holding tight to his hand when a woman appeared on the balcony of the Foreign Ministry, which faces the square, and waved the Hungarian tricolor. The hated Soviet hammer and sickle had been cut from the center. Thus was the symbol of the Hungarian revolution (and so many others still to come) born. When someone in the growing crowd brazenly shouted, “Ruszki haza!” — “Russians go home” — the revolution had its slogan, as well.

Highs and lows that mark the human spirit, but we are eternally optimistic. The trouble in Hungary now only makes me wonder how long it will be before the spirit of liberty appears again.

Technorati Tags: Communism, history, Hungary

Saying "goodbye" to Iraq's heritage

'Stop the looters destroying history' - World - Times Online:

THE cultural treasures of Iraq — the birthplace of writing, codified law, mathematics, medicine and astronomy — are being obliterated as looters take advantage of the country’s bloody chaos.

Fourteen of the world’s leading archaeologists have written to the President and Prime Minister of the country, demanding immediate action to stem the vandalism after seeing photographs of sites left pockmarked by enormous craters.

Among examples in the letter, seen yesterday by The Times, was a Babylonian sculpture of a lion dating from about 1700BC that lost its head because the terracotta shattered as looters tried to remove it.

Another was the destruction of the Ana Minaret on the Euphrates about 190 miles (310km) west of Baghdad, revered for 1,000 years as a unique construction. It was blown up by Islamic extremists apparently for fear that it would be used as an American observation post.

Another irreplaceable human casualty of this war.

Technorati Tags: history, Iraq, war

Greek archaeologists discover Aristotle bust near Acropolis

Greek archaeologists discover Aristotle bust near Acropolis:

A recently-discovered bust of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle has been described by archaeologists as the best-preserved likeness ever found, reports said Wednesday.

Discovered under the Acropolis, the Roman-era marble bust of the famous philosopher had probably occupied the nearby villa of a wealthy Roman citizen, senior archaeologist Alcestis Horemi was quoted by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini as saying.

The 46-centimetre bust, which dates to the 1st century AD, is the first to depict Aristotle's hooked nose.

In an interesting way, because this is a Roman bust, this is just a knock-off of Greek sculpture.

Technorati Tags: Aristotle, Greece, history, puppy

Early Bronze Age Mortuary Complex Discovered in Syria

Early Bronze Age Mortuary Complex Discovered in Syria:

An ancient, untouched Syrian tomb that wowed the archaeological world on its discovery by Johns Hopkins University researchers nearly six years ago has revealed another secret: It is not alone.

The tomb, which was filled with human and animal remains, gold and silver treasures and unbroken artifacts dating back to the third millennium B.C., is actually one of at least eight located near each other in Umm el-Marra, archaeologist Glenn Schwartz said. That northern Syrian city is believed to be the site of ancient Tuba, one of Syria's first cities and the capital of a small kingdom, said Schwartz, Whiting Professor of Archaeology in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins.

The new tombs were identified and excavated by the Johns Hopkins team in the summers of 2002, 2004 and 2006, with funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Dellheim Foundation of Baltimore and the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins. Given differences in ceramic objects found in the tombs, Schwartz and his team have concluded that they were built sequentially over three centuries, from about 2500 to about 2200 B.C. The tombs were built next to each other, with the complex expanding horizontally. Since they found no more than eight skeletons per tomb, the archaeologists hypothesize that these are tombs of different families or dynasties.

Technorati Tags: history, Syria

Art Monk and black Syracuse players finally get their letters

History News Network:

In 1970, nine black Syracuse University football players became rebellious outcasts when they quit the team to protest racial injustice.

Now, 36 years later, the university is officially recognizing them for their courageous stand.

On Friday, they received Chancellor's Medals, one of the university's highest honors. Chancellor Nancy Cantor called the men "emblematic of the values we want for our students and for ourselves when we face critical issues of justice and equality."

On Saturday, former National Football League star Art Monk, a 1980 Syracuse alumnus, gave them their long-denied letterman jackets at a halftime ceremony during the Syracuse-Louisville football game.

As a matter of record, Wikipedia does not mention Monk and his teammates protest at this writing, just his pro career with the Washington Redskins.

Technorati Tags: history, football, wikipedia

One for the history books: Anatomy of a baseball cheat

ESPN.com: Page 2 : The cap that killed the Cardinals?:

Pine tar, gum, shoe polish, "a big clump of dirt" -- whatever Kenny Rogers had out there Sunday night, Uni Watch thinks everyone's looking for it in the wrong place. Instead of poring over still shots of Rogers' hand, take a look at his cap.

To explain: Rogers prefers to wear a batting practice cap, instead of the standard-issue New Era 5950 game cap that all the other players wear. He's been pitching with the BP cap all season, as you can tell from the slightly puffier, more rounded brim and more synthetic-looking fabric (5950s are made of wool, while BP caps are polyester). Detroit's BP cap has a colored sandwich brim -- white at home, orange on the road -- which would be a no-no for regular game action, so Rogers apparently fills in the colored edge with a dark marker, which means he doesn't match his teammates during pregame workouts.

But here's the key: The BP cap has a black underbill, instead of the Tigers' usual light gray. Now ask yourself, if you wanted to take a foreign substance out to the mound with you, wouldn't it be easier to hide it against a black background than a gray one? Far be it from Uni Watch to accuse the Gambler of taking cards from the bottom of the deck, but you have to admit it's an interesting coincidence at the very least. Uni Watch's suggestion: Make Rogers wear a 5950 like everyone else, and then let's see who holds 'em and who folds 'em.

The obvious smear of pine tar on Kenny Rogers' hand will end up being the story of the 2007 World Series.

Technorati Tags: baseball, history