colonial America

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Scientists Hunt for Remains of Colonists' Act of Rebellion

The HMS Gaspee was burned off Rhode Island in 1772

(Newser) - A new effort is underway to find the remains of a British ship that Rhode Island colonists burned 250 years ago, marine archaeologists and state officials announced Tuesday. The June 10, 1772, burning of the HMS Gaspee was an an act of rebellion that some proud Rhode Islanders maintain was...

Spot Where Salem 'Witches' Were Hanged Identified

Proctor's Ledge is the fateful spot

(Newser) - Nearly a century ago, historian Sidney Perley identified the place in Salem, Mass., where 19 accused witches met their end in 1692; now, finally, confirmation. The Salem News reports that the seven scholars who compose the Gallows Hill Project have after a five-year effort definitively determined that Proctor's Ledge...

Historians Closer to Learning Lost Colony's Fate
Historians Closer to
Learning Lost Colony's Fate
in case you missed it

Historians Closer to Learning Lost Colony's Fate

Ground-penetrating radar may help solve mystery of Roanoke Island

(Newser) - New research has shed a little more light on one of America's longstanding mysteries: the disappearance of more than 100 colonists on North Carolina's Roanoke Island. The British settlers disappeared in 1590, three years after their arrival. Two hints persisted as to their fates: The word "Croatoan"...

America's Oldest Unsolved Murder May Be Solved
America's Oldest Unsolved Murder May Be Solved
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

America's Oldest Unsolved Murder May Be Solved

Jamestown researchers think they've identified remains

(Newser) - Colonial America's oldest unsolved mystery involved remains that have been known only as "JR102C," or "JR" for short, but their owner's true name may have finally been uncovered. The bones were found, buried in a coffin, under an old roadbed in Jamestown in 1996, WTKR...

New York, Age 400, Looks Back to Holland

Exhibition features letter signaling founding of Manhattan

(Newser) - Today is an unhappy date in New York, but tomorrow is a much more joyous anniversary—on Sept. 12, 1609, Henry Hudson sailed up the river that now bears his name, leading to the founding of New Amsterdam. The Dutch royal family will visit for the anniversary, and two historical...

5 Stories